NHL

Rangers starting to feel heat from playoff contenders

Unlike the Rangers in last night’s first period, time isn’t standing still.

Their star of a year ago, Marian Gaborik, shouldn’t be out much longer with concussion symptoms, according to general manager Glen Sather. The knee of their best defenseman, Marc Staal, is “close but just not right,” according to coach John Tortorella.

With 17 games to go, the Rangers are still three points to the good of ninth place, a promise for March 2 they would have signed up for in October, had someone had told them they would have accumulated a staggering 246 man-games lost with five weeks still to go.

But the reality is the margin by which they cling to postseason involvement essentially is as gone as Monday’s last chance to add another impact player. The ninth-place Sabres left town last night with not only a 3-2 victory but three games in hand on the Rangers.

The opportunities being lost are not yet at the point they were a year ago, when the Blueshirts, who were seven points out of eighth with 10 games to go, went 7-2 to set up the opportunity to fall one point short in Game 82. But that crisis will be along again soon enough unless the Rangers start to get a consistent forecheck from anyone besides Artem Anisimov, Ryan Callahan and Brandon Dubinsky, take some control of home games early, and of course, put the puck in the net when they need to the most.

Anisimov did last night after stripping the puck from Mike Grier, culminating a third-period effort that explained why Sather refused to put the blossoming young Russian into a deadline deal for Dallas’ Brad Richards. During the frantic final minutes, Mats Zuccarello almost scored, too, until Ryan Miller reached back and swept the puck with his glove hand practically off the goal line.

But again the Rangers, who won the one-goal games early, lost another one lately. And in a league — actually any league — where the vast majority of games are won by getting ahead and staying ahead, comebacks will continue to be no way to get back to the playoffs.

“We get down early, take more penalties than we want to,” said Erik Christensen, who beat Miller to the short side on a second-period power play. “We got better as the game went along, did a better job chipping pucks by them and finally got in on the forecheck. “Torts said after the second period we’re one of the best third-period teams in the league, and it’s true. We put a lot of rubber at the net, and that doesn’t seem to be any consolation for the guys in the room. There’s nothing we can do about it now.”

Not until tomorrow against the Wild. Another night, another opponent on the bubble, another chance for two points to be seized early and squeezed late, whether Staal or Gaborik play or not.

“We need to come out with a sense of urgency right from the get-go instead of having it after we get behind,” said Dubinsky.

None of the clubs lurking behind the Rangers added an impact player at the deadline. And though nine of the 17 remaining games are at home, apparently not the best thing for a team that last night slipped under .500 for the season at the Garden, the good news is only eight of those Rangers’ final 17 are against teams currently in playoff position.

So it’s not too late, just getting there fast.

jay.greenberg@nypost.com