It was one power-play practice session two days before the opening playoff game in Washington, nothing more and nothing less than that, but that doesn’t change the fact that yesterday for the first time in memory, Marian Gaborik skated on the Rangers’ second unit.
The Blueshirts went through approximately 40 minutes of drills and line rushes before taking a break while the ice was flooded. When the club returned for 20 minutes of full-ice PP work, Gaborik was on the unit with Brian Boyle and Wojtek Wolski up front and Derek Stepan and Dan Girardi on the points.
Erik Christensen exchanged spots with Gaborik to move up to the first unit with forwards Vinny Prospal and Brandon Dubinsky and point-men Bryan McCabe and Marc Staal.
The Rangers’ first PP unit had featured Gaborik with Prospal and Ryan Callahan, but Dubinsky took Callahan’s spot last Thursday against Atlanta after Callahan sustained a broken ankle blocking a Zdeno Chara shot last Monday night against the Bruins.
The Blueshirts went 0-for-4 on the power play in the 3-0 defeat to the Thrashers, and then did not get a man-advantage in the season-ending 5-2 victory over the Devils on Saturday in which there was just one set of coincidental minors called throughout the match.
The team finished the year on a 1-for-27 PP skid over the final nine games, with that lone goal coming on a two-man advantage in Philadelphia on April 3. The Rangers’ last five-on-four power-play goal was scored on March 20 in Pittsburgh when Callahan converted in the third period at 9:39, 11 seconds after Gaborik scored a five-on-three, the front end of which was created by Matt Cooke’s infamous blow to Ryan McDonagh’s jaw.
That marked the final goal of the year for Gaborik, who went the final nine games without scoring to finish with 22 goals in 62 games after scoring 42 in 76 games a year ago in his first season as a Ranger. The sniper came into this season having scored 150 goals in 283 games since the 2004-05 lockout.
“For a lot of players who feel they struggled or even played well, I just think you wipe the slate clean here and get at this,” coach John Tortorella said. “This isn’t an 82-game grind, it’s the fun time of the year.
“It’s a whole different mindset that you bring into it. And I hope Gabby realizes that, that the slate’s clean, let’s go to work.”
Tortorella declined to state whether Mats Zuccarello, recalled for the finale against New Jersey in part because of his shootout prowess, would remain in the lineup after getting a total of 3:16 on six shifts (none in the third period) or whether Sean Avery would return after being scratched against New Jersey following his failure to clear the defensive zone against Atlanta that indirectly led to the Thrashers’ first goal.
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The Post has learned the Rangers do not believe that 2009 first-round draft choice Chris Kreider has made an irrevocable decision to return to Boston College next year for his junior season, though that’s what Eagles head coach Jerry York announced yesterday.
It is believed that the Blueshirts are in communication with the winger, who will turn 20 on April 30. The Post last week was told by an individual close to Kreider that he is leaning toward returning to school.
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Derek Boogaard, who has not played since sustaining a concussion on Dec. 9, has been sent home by the Rangers, The Post has learned.
Boogaard had started to skate on his own and participated in several optional morning skates at the practice rink during the middle of March even though a return this year had been ruled out. General manager Glen Sather declined to elaborate on the out-of-the-ordinary decision to send the player home.
Boogaard, who recorded two points (1-1) and 45 PIM in 22 games and 100:05 total minutes played, has three years at $1.625 million per year remaining on the free-agent contract he signed last July 1 after leaving the Wild.
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Michigan senior winger Carl Hagelin, the Rangers’ sixth-round selection in the 2007 draft, has signed an Entry Level contract following the Wolverines’ defeat on Saturday in the NCAA final to Minnesota-Duluth, and is joining the AHL Whale. The Post two weeks ago reported Hagelin’s intention to sign following Michigan’s final game.
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The Rangers will open next season with two games in Stockholm, Sweden — Oct. 7 against the Ducks and Oct. 8 against the Kings. With the Garden shut down through late October for reconstruction, the Blueshirts will be on the road for the first month plus the exhibition season.
It is likely the Rangers would play a few preseason matches in Europe as well, after playing two or three close to home.
“It’s going to be very exciting,” said Henrik Lundqvist, a native Swede. “I heard some talk about it the last few weeks, and to go to Sweden for a couple of games and maybe go to Gothenburg [for an exhibition game], that’s my hometown, that would be very special.
“But that’s next year. I can think about it and enjoy it over the summer. Now we get ready for [the playoffs].”
Lundqvist admitted that he did not expect to be getting ready for the playoffs upon leaving the Garden Saturday when the team’s fate rested with the Lightning, who responded by beating the Hurricanes in Raleigh, N.C., a few hours later.
“It felt like the season was over, honestly,” The King said. “I didn’t have a lot of hope.”