The more things change, the more they stay the same for the Rangers. Two seasons removed from the daily grind of checking Jaromir Jagr’s pulse, they now will go as Marian Gaborik goes.
Different personality. Different coach. Similar reliance on one player to carry the offense, however, and in Gaborik, not quite Jagr’s ability to do so.
Gaborik broke 40 goals just once in eight Minnesota seasons and 35 goals twice, though admittedly with a Jacques Lemaire harness attached. John Tortorella wants Gaborik, off to a fine start with 12 goals and 10 assists, to go, go, go, and the Rangers, a healthy 11th in the league in goals scored thanks largely to their 11 in two meetings with dreadful Toronto, will succeed as he does.
In the past six games, they have scored 10 (two by Gaborik) and won just twice. And what the Canucks and defenseman Willie Mitchell, accustomed to marking Gaborik up to seven times a season in the Northwest Division, did last week, holding him to one shot in a 4-1 Rangers loss, was the tip of an iceberg that will be melting one drop at a time on the Slovak’s forehead.
After missing 104 games over the past three seasons, and two already in this one, there also should be anxiety over his mental health. He is pretty good, but he has never sustained great, and once a schedule so far light on divisional foes sees more Devils and Flyers, space will become more at a premium.
That’s not so much because the Rangers don’t have a classic No. 1 playmaking center, because Gaborik can make his own shot, but they don’t really have another forward, on his line or others, commanding opposition attention.
And you know what occurs then: Frustration from the player, the media and the fans, who want the team’s best player to carry it whether he is capable or not. There also is pressure on the general manager to ease that burden with a significant acquisition, which will not be easy for Glen Sather with his team only $750,000 under the $57 million salary cap.
Thanks to their coach, the Rangers will be organized and motivated, and will, unless whatever is troubling goalie Henrik Lundqvist turns into a season-long problem, be good enough for another postseason berth.
There was great agreement about how hard the Rangers played Saturday night in Calgary after losing Drury and Brandon Dubinsky. And no disagreement that they still lost 3-1.