For the first time since home-opener pregame ceremonies became a fixture, the Rangers opted not to introduce players individually during the festivities that preceded last night’s 5-2 victory over the Senators.
This surely was a pre-emptive strike by management to avoid booing of Donald Brashear, if not Michal Rozsival, as well. The decision had micro-managing head coach John Tortorella’s fingerprints all over it.
The fans may not have been given the opportunity to boo before the game — the club was introduced en masse prior to delivering a center-ice salute to the crowd — but they let their feelings be known during the match, booing Brashear pretty much whenever he was on the ice and Rozsival pretty much whenever he touched the puck.
Management and the head coach were foolish not to recognize the controversial nature of Brashear’s free-agent signing. The reaction from the crowd is certainly not making life easy for No. 87, who was jeered even after engaging Matt Carkner in a fight late in the third period.
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Sean Avery, who has missed the opening two games of the season with a sprained knee, is targeting Thursday night’s game in Washington for his 2009-10 debut.
“I’d have loved to play in [last night’s] Garden opener or Monday in Jersey, but I have to be smart about this and not rush back too soon, especially with a knee,” Avery told The Post between periods of Friday’s opening 3-2 defeat in Pittsburgh.
“I don’t want to put myself or my team in the situation where I come back before I’m completely ready and then suffer a setback that’s going to keep me out for a month.”
Avery, who sustained the injury in a collision with Ryan Callahan during a Sept. 21 practice, has skated every day since Tuesday, but he’s yet to engage in contact.
“A couple of days of practice and drills will be good for me,” Avery said. “I am really looking forward to getting out there.”
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Marian Gaborik had five shots on net after getting eight the previous night in Pittsburgh. Including blocked shots and those that went wide, Gaborik has attempted 17 shots in two games. Gaborik’s linemates, Brandon Dubinsky and Vinny Prospal, each scored on two-on-ones while Gaborik scored on a rebound of a Dubinsky breakaway try that hit the post.
Dubinsky, of course, played the second half of his 2006-07 rookie season with Jaromir Jagr, who couldn’t be more different stylistically than Gaborik.
“Certainly [Gaborik] has the same skill level, but they’re very different players,” Dubinsky said. “With Jags, he wanted the puck a lot so I tried to get him the puck as much as I could.
“With Gabby, I find myself with the puck a lot more and I just try to get it to him. He has bursts of speed. It is a little bit different but obviously both have tremendous skill.”
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Brian Boyle had an encouraging night on the penalty kill. . . . Ales Kotalik struggled again at even strength. Indeed, the Kotalik-Artem Anisimov-Enver Lisin unit has had issues in each of the first two games. . . . Marc Staal got a team-high 24:06 of ice while Rozsival played 21:50 and Wade Redden 21:43 as Tortorella and assistant coach Mike Sullivan shortened the defensive bench.
Michael Del Zotto took only three brief even-strength shifts after the midway point of the second period while Matt Gilroy was pulled from the power play in the third period and was used sparingly at even strength. The Blueshirts went primarily with the Staal-Dan Girardi and Redden-Rozsival pairs in the third period.