Rangers coach John Tortorella, who had no comment immediately following Tuesday night’s 1-0 defeat to the Devils about the goaltender interference call against Marian Gaborik that negated what would have been the tying goal with 3.5 seconds to go in the match, mused last night that perhaps the NHL should adopt the NFL policy of reviewing all plays within the final two minutes of a game.
“I’m not saying the call was wrong, just saying you’ve got to get it right,” Tortorella said yesterday before the Rangers’ 4-3 overtime victory over the Lighting at Madison Square Garden. “I haven’t thought it through, maybe it would take a few more seconds, but in the last minute of the game, you need to get that call right.
Gaborik, who went to the net on a rush while Ryan Callahan took a left wing wrist shot, crashed into Martin Brodeur with his left shoulder, knocking the goaltender back into the net after being nudged/pushed by New Jersey defenseman Anton Volchenkov.
Even as Artem Anisimov was burying the rebound, referee Dan O’Rourke had his arm in the air signifying a penalty against Gaborik, who was judged not to have made a meaningful effort to avoid Brodeur after the contact with Volchenkov.
“I’m not questioning the call, but it brings up a discussion and I think the NFL gets it right,” Tortorella said. “In the last two minutes, it’s a booth replay.
“I haven’t thought it all through, but maybe in the last minute of an NHL hockey game, get that call right and maybe you do have to go upstairs to make sure it’s the right call.
“We spend a lot of BS with the shootout and the little gimmicks in our game,” he said. “I think it’s more important to get the calls right in those situations.
“Have I thought the ramifications through? No; I’m just speaking as far as what we experienced the other night.”
The NFL does automatically review plays over the final two minutes, but pass interference — a judgment call akin to goaltender interference — is not included among the plays that can be reviewed at any time.
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Martin Biron seemed out of sorts at different times throughout last night’s match during which he was less than pristine in controlling rebounds and in covering pucks around the net, but he made a pair of late saves against league-leading scorer Steven Stamkos at the right post with 5:45 to go in the third to keep the game tied at 3-3.
Biron got the left pad down on the initial shot and then denied the rebound with his left elbow up against the post.
“I tried to be where I was expecting the shots,” the goaltender said. “The first shot, I knew it was coming from the end of his stick so it was going to be at the bottom of the net and then I kept my shoulder square because I thought he was going up with the rebound. Really, he had no other option there.
“It’s the way we practice. Benny [assistant coach and goaltending instructor Benoit Allaire] tells the guys to take shots based on game situations, so that I let me be prepared for a situation exactly like this one.”
When it was suggested to Biron that the Rangers had kept Tamps Bay’s Triple Threats of Stamkos (who scored the first goal for his 36th of the year), Martin St. Louis and Vincent Lecavalier (who scored a four-on-four goal) in check, the goaltender said, “I don’t know that we really kept them in check; we didn’t play them as well as we wanted.”
When Tortorella was asked for his take on Biron, the coach said: “I thought he was a bit all over the place but he made big saves at big times.”
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Before getting the winner at 2:37 of overtime, Brad Richards got just three shifts in the third period, two on a pair of tower plays on which he logged 3:09. … Rangers finished the night 1-for-3 on the power play after scoring on their first advantage. … Tampa Bay’s 17 shots represented fewest allowed by an opponent this season.
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Rangers, 5-1-1 in their last seven, remain four points ahead of the Flyers for both the Atlantic and East lead while holding two games in hand on Philadelphia, where the clubs will meet tomorrow afternoon.
Rangers are five points ahead of the Bruins while even in games with Boston. Bruins hold the second seed in the East by virtue of their Northeast lead but trail the Flyers by a point.
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The Rangers are 28-0-2 when scoring three goals or more, 6-13-3 scoring two or fewer. Rangers are 5-9-4 when allowing three or more, 29-4-1 when allowing two or fewer.
Last night’s match marked seventh time in last 27 games Rangers have allowed as many as three goals in a game.
larry.brooks@nypost.com