Five straight times now John Tortorella has started four-on-four overtime with Marian Gaborik and Derek Stepan up front, with the defense pair of Michael Del Zotto and Anton Stralman starting four of them and jumping on 12 seconds into the other.
“I don’t want to wait there and maybe not get them on,” the coach said after the Rangers didn’t wait in recording a 3-2 OT Garden victory over the Blue Jackets on Stepan’s goal at 0:22 off nifty relays from Gaborik and Del Zotto. “They’re our best four-on-four [combination]; I’m not concerned about matching there at all.”
The Rangers have won five straight games decided in OT since losing the season opener in Stockholm to the Kings. That’s in addition to their 3-4 record in shootouts.
“Gabby has the speed to back people off and Michael is so good at seeing the ice,” said Stepan, who moved in back door at the left porch to put away Del Zotto’s backhand feed after Gaborik had moved the puck diagonally down low on the right side to the defenseman.
“We scored power-play goals two games in a row where Michael found [Ryan Callahan] back door, so once Gabby moved the puck to him, I knew he would at least take a look and see if I would be there.”
Del Zotto endorsed the attack mentality that has paid off for the Rangers, and not only in four-on-four. The Blueshirts play with a defensive structure, but they want to pressure the puck as often as possible.
“Look at the guys out there [to start OT],” Del Zotto said. “There’s tremendous speed and a lot of skill.
“When I saw Gabby fake the shot [before passing], I knew I’d have kind of an open net on my backhand. Then when [goaltender Steve Mason] came sliding across, I knew Step would be back-door.”
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Henrik Lundqvist limited an opponent to two goals or fewer for the 10th time in his last 11 starts and 17th time over the last 20, but he was nevertheless disturbed in yielding the tying goal to Rick Nash at 18:27 of the third period after the Blue Jackets won an offensive zone draw with their goaltender pulled for the extra attacker.
“It was a knuckle puck that dipped on me, and I was upset that I didn’t do a better read and know it was a knuckler until it was too late,” said The King. “I was disappointed not to keep it 2-1, but as long as we got the win, it’s all right.”
Asked about Nash, who might be a teammate within the week, Lundqvist said: “He’s a good player, no question. He’s strong and has a great shot. He can be really effective.”
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Del Zotto appeared to have beaten the clock with a goal with 0:00.1 remaining in the second period according to the scoreboard clock superimposed on the MSG telecast, but the official clock in the upstairs scorers’ booth used by officials in Toronto for the video review showed triple zeros. Hence, no goal.
“We saw the picture [of the official clock] between periods,” Tortorella said. “It was the correct call.”
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Steve Eminger did not return to the ice following the 8:52 mark of the third after Sammy Pahlsson appeared to land on the defenseman’s left leg/knee. Tortorella declined to provide information on Eminger’s status. The coach similarly did not provide an update regarding the status of Ruslan Fedotenko, who missed his fifth straight game in the aftermath of sustaining a suspected concussion on Feb. 9 but did participate in the optional morning skate after being off the ice the previous three days.
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The Blueshirts are in Pittsburgh tomorrow night and on the Island Friday before facing the Sabres at the Garden on Saturday.
larry.brooks@nypost.com