STUFFED! Karl Alzner (left) hits winger Marian Gaborik as he tries to sneak the puck past Washington’s goalie Braden Holtby during the third period of the Rangers’ 3-2 loss to the Capitals in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference semifinals matchup last night. (Neil Miller)
This was a good time for Marian Gaborik to stop squeezing his stick so tight, to be the threat John Tortorella’s Rangers need him to be, to be Braden Holtby’s worst nightmare.
Because there will be playoff nights when phenom Chris Kreider will not show up more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. There will be nights when Henrik Lundqvist is not the best goaltender in the world, King of kings. There will be nights when the other team is the more desperate team, nights when the Rangers do not play the right way for all 60 minutes and their fans are left with Broadway blues wondering how their boys can make a legitimate run at a Stanley Cup when they remember to only bring a water pistol to a gunfight.
There will be nights when the Rangers need Gaborik to be something other than The Invisible Man, nights when they need him to be the 41-goal terror he was during the regular season.
And last night was one of those nights.
And make no mistake, Gaborik showed up, finally. Made his presence felt. Got those wondrous legs churning. Made a couple of passes Magic Johnson would have applauded.
But he still hasn’t scored a goal since Game 1 against Ottawa.
And until he does, all the true grit and all the mental toughness and all the physicality and blocked shots in the world won’t carry the Rangers anywhere near a Stanley Cup.
Tortorella tried a wake up, shake up call at the start of the third period, switching Gaborik onto the Ryan Callahan-Derek Stepan line and moving Kreider with Carl Hagelin and Brad Richards.
Gaborik was on the ice for Callahan’s tip-in of a Michael Del Zotto slapshot on the power play (6-for-39 in the playoffs now) that tied it 2-2.
“That’s a big goal for us,” Tortorella said. “Think we can gain some confidence from that.”
It was a big goal for them until Alex Ovechkin gave the Caps a 3-2 Game 2 victory with a bullet past Lundqvist, who temporarily lost the puck, with Richards in the penalty box.
“We battled back as far as we did to tie the game. … It’s a tie game, you can’t take four minutes in penalties,” Tortorella said. “You’re not gonna win a hockey game like that.”
You’re not gonna win a hockey game like that unless and until your best goal-scorer starts scoring goals, because you find yourself with absolutely no margin for error.
The Caps, taking advantage of a three-on-two on Michael Knuble’s ice-breaking goal, had made Lundqvist look mortal in the first period, and it was 2-0 and Holtby had stoned Kreider after he flew past a pair of careless Capitals defenders, the Garden waiting to explode as he did, and groaning instead when he was denied.
Gaborik, from Holtby’s left side, awakened from his playoff slumber to slide a cunning pass in front of the net to the charging Richards and it was 2-1. That gave Gaborik four assists in nine playoff games.
Artem Anisimov flicked a beautiful pass to Mike Rupp, who broke in free on Holtby but could not beat him on the backhand. It isn’t Rupp’s job to score — his next goal will be his first playoff goal. It is Gaborik’s job.
Gaborik made one of his trademark lightning thrusts late in the second period along the boards to Holtby’s left, but his wrist shot thundered wide left.
It was early in the third period when Del Zotto wound up for a slapshot that hit the post. Again: It isn’t Del Zotto’s job to score. It is Gaborik’s.
Richards was encouraged by Gaborik last night.
“Created a few things for me that I could have had a couple of goals,” Richards said. “He’s been involved in a couple of big goals here in the last couple of games. … I know how that is … confidence will grow, and he’ll feel better about himself.”
Tortorella was in no mood to talk about the Kreider-Gaborik switch.
“Don’t ask me about my moves. … I’m not gonna give you that type of information,” he said.
Best-of-five again for the Rangers. Best of Marian Gaborik desperately needed.