EDMONTON, Alberta — After appearing completely out of sorts the first three games of the season, Brian Boyle neither was looking for nor received a pat on the back from John Tortorella and his assistant coaches.
Indeed, the center referenced a different body part in relating the tone of the conversation he had with the staff at the start of the four-game tour through western Canada that continued here last night and will conclude tomorrow night in Winnipeg.
“The coaches talked to me and gave me a swift kick in the [butt],” Boyle told The Post before the Rangers’ 2-0 loss to the Oilers last night. “I was reminded that I had to do the things that made me effective last year, and that’s simplifying my game, being physical and getting in on the puck on the forecheck.
“I put pressure on myself to score goals where I can be counted on in any situation by the coaches, but the most important thing for me is not to lose sight of what I have to do to get there.”
Boyle scored 21 goals last season, nine more than he had amassed over the course of his first three NHL seasons, two with the Kings and the third with the Rangers. But the big center scored only once in the final 19 games and then was blanked in the five-game first-round loss to the Capitals despite leading the Blueshirts in shots.
“I want to prove that last season wasn’t a fluke as far as being able to contribute offensively, but I realize that it doesn’t come automatically,” said Boyle, who began to get on track on Tuesday with a goal in the Rangers’ 4-0 victory in Vancouver that he followed with his most imposing game in the 3-2 overtime victory in Calgary on Thursday. “The way I was playing before Vancouver wasn’t acceptable to me or to anyone.”
Boyle and linemates Brandon Prust and Ruslan Fedotenko had their best night as a unit against the Flames, playing at least a facsimile of the down-low grinding game that marked their work a year ago. Boyle also won a puck in the corner to set up Prust for the club’s first shorthanded goal of the season.
“We had a rhythm going last year when we would bang, control the puck and cycle,” Boyle said. “As a group we’ve talked about it and we’ve been talked to by the coaches, and that’s the way we want to play this season.
“It’s essential that we finish our checks, be hard to play against and have the puck in their end. It’s a lot of fun to play that way, but I wasn’t doing that the first three games. The last couple of games have been better.
“Now I have to stay with it and keep improving to get the ice time in order to contribute the way I want to and know I can.”
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Wojtek Wolski, sidelined the previous four games with a groin issue, went from the hot tub to the press box as a healthy scratch.
“I know that Wooly was a 60-point scorer [65 points two years ago] in this league and we have to try to get that out of him, but we’ve won the last couple of games and I’m going to keep the fourth line [Erik Christensen, Kris Newbury and Mike Rupp] the same.”
Brendan Bell was set to play his first game as a Ranger and first in the NHL since 2008-09, replacing Jeff Woywitka on the third defense pair. Tortorella said Michael Sauer (shoulder) is “day to day.” Goalie Henrik Lundqvist got his sixth straight start.