NHL

Senators pest Neil has Rangers’ attention

The nemesis stands there wild-eyed, reveling in the adoration of the surrounding media, his sharp and pointed smile cutting through a growing blond beard he hopes has weeks left in its lifespan.

Senators forward Chris Neil has been more than just a thorn in the side of the Rangers during this opening-round playoff series. He has been the catalyst who has gotten the eighth-seeded Senators to within one win of unseating the Eastern Conference-winning Rangers, the two teams tied three games apiece as they prepare for Game 7 tomorrow night at Madison Square Garden.

So here he is on Saturday night, in the cramped visitors’ locker room at the Garden, his Senators having just competed a 2-0 win in Game 5 to give them a 3-2 series advantage. In the third period, Neil threw his shoulder into Brian Boyle, smashing the head of the Rangers’ best player this series and concussing him.

“The hit was clean,” Neil says with overwhelming defiance. “When you’re coming back, cutting to middle with your head down, you’ve got to be expecting to get hit.”

Minutes later, fuming mad and swinging his hands above the clear plastic podium, Rangers coach John Tortorella lets his emotions be known.

“I’m not trying to be something smart about it, it’s just a dangerous, dangerous cheap hit,” Tortorella said. “[He] launches himself, [it’s a] headshot, the puck’s at the goal line when he’s hit. So the blueprint is there. I’m sure [Neil] is a repeat offender, too.”

Tortorella was making reference to the Coyotes’ Raffi Torres’ 25-game suspension earlier in the playoffs when he hospitalized Blackhawks star Marian Hossa with a headshot. That blueprint fell on deaf ears in the league office, which saw no reason to even talk to Neil about his actions.

“It’s a big win,” Neil says, the toothless smile on his face like a sardonic artist’s portrayal of antagonism, ice and blood as the medium.

But if it were just the physical play of Neil that has irked the Rangers, he would be nothing more than another pest in a league full of them. Instead, Neil has hit the Rangers where it hurts the most: on the scoreboard.

With each game he toys with variations of Gordie Howe’s famous hat trick — getting into fights, scoring goals, winning battles to set up goals. He has been more than the gritty checking-line winger he was in the regular season; he has been everything a team needs to win in the playoffs.

“He’s been great,” Neil’s appreciative coach, Paul MacLean, said after Game 2 when Neil scored the game-winner in overtime.

Tortorella labeled Neil a “repeat offender,” a term that might be apt to all who have watched him play, but is not written in ink by a single suspension. Through his 11-year career, Neil has only incurred monetary discipline, most recently coming in the form of a $1,000 fine in 2003 for his involvement in a bench-clearing brawl.

“Me being a physical guy,” Neil says, “I want to lead by example and get guys into it.”

The first period of Game 6, in the din of Scotiabank Place, Neil accepts his second invitation of the night to fight from Rangers middleweight tough-guy Brandon Prust. The punches are filled with long-held angst, and Neil skates off the ice by raising his arms and imploring the home fans to cheer.

The Rangers are inspired by Prust and score three goals in the second. Up 3-1 in the third en route to tying the series, young Rangers defenseman Michael Del Zotto finds Neil behind the net and levels him, shoulder-to-shoulder, with Neil’s head snapping back as he falls to the ice in a heap.

Seconds later, from the bench, Neil screams at the referees who made no call, then scans around for Del Zotto.

“I’m sure I’ll catch him with his head down one of these times,” Neil says afterward.

Yes, come tomorrow night, the Rangers have to skate with their heads up. And if they get popped and their season ends, they won’t have to open their eyes to see who’s standing over them.

bcyrgalis@nypost.com