FIGHTING WORDS: Rangers coach John Tortorella reacts during the Rangers’ 4-1 loss to the Devils last night. Tortorella and Devils coach Pete DeBoer renewed animosities during a heated third-period exchange. (Charles Wenzelberg)
FIGHTING WORDS: Rangers coach John Tortorella reacts during the Rangers’ 4-1 loss to the Devils last night. Tortorella and Devils coach Pete DeBoer (inset) renewed animosities during a heated third-period exchange. (Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post; Getty Images)
Maybe this is what John Tortorella meant by gamesmanship, maybe the Rangers’ coach defines that as racing to the front of his team’s bench for an exchange of angry words with Devils coach Pete DeBoer, a man whose presence he clearly cannot abide.
Maybe this latest incident, coming at 6:18 of last night’s third period after Mike Rupp punched Martin Brodeur in the mask in a Game 4 the Blueshirts trailed 3-0 and would lose 4-1, of gamesmanship was required because the Blueshirts essentially had no game.
It all started after a set-to behind New Jersey’s net that Rupp initiated with Peter Harrold while Stu Bickel renewed acquaintances with Ryan Carter.
The Devils may not be in the Rangers’ heads after tying this Battle of the Hudson 2-2 with Game 5 in Manhattan tomorrow night, but the sight of and sounds from DeBoer obviously trip Tortorella’s wires.
What now, the Devils had the wrong players on the ice to suit Tortorella’s sensibilities after the Rangers sent out Rupp and Bickel following a timeout 12 seconds earlier?
Neither coach would discuss the latest exchange in what has been an ongoing feud since at least the brawl three seconds into the March 26 match at the Garden in which Bickel, who had never taken a shift in the middle, lined up at center to take the opening draw against Carter after Tortorella took offense to DeBoer’s decision to start Cam Janssen and Eric Boulton on the wings.
That night, Tortorella excoriated DeBoer in an interview for television conducted on the bench that never made it onto the air because it was so laced with profanities.
Then, of course, on Sunday in response to the suspension Brandon Prust faced (and received) for sending Anton Volchenkov to the ice with an elbow to the head, Tortorella implied that DeBoer’s team takes dives in order to draw calls as opposed to the Rangers, who, the coach said, are instructed to get right up.
Last night, though, was not about that and it wasn’t even about whatever Rupp and Bickel did or whatever Tortorella and DeBoer shouted at one another while about 10 feet apart.
And neither was last night about an even-numbered game or an odd-numbered game or the Rangers’ sixth straight failure to grab a two-game series lead (including one potential close-out game) when given the opportunity.
This was about the Rangers’ inability to play a 60-minute game for the fourth time in four games in a Battle of the Hudson that is tilting west.
This is about the Rangers having scored nine goals in the series, seven of them in the third period against an opponent whose forecheck has the Blueshirts on the run.
This is about an opponent that isn’t Ottawa or Washington, but rather a bona fide contender for the Stanley Cup, the first one the Rangers have faced in the tournament.
“For sure they’re the best team we’ve played,” Henrik Lundqvist told The Post. “They’re the best team and they’re playing their game very well.
“They play differently than Ottawa and Washington. They put us under a lot more pressure.”
The pressure is on the Rangers to manufacture a sustained attack. The Blueshirts must get the puck in low and go to work against Brodeur, who has gone toe-to-toe with Lundqvist.
“We have to be ready to go right from the drop of the puck,” said Ryan Callahan, who can be called Captain Daddy after his wife, Kyla, gave birth to the couple’s first child, a daughter, on Sunday morning.
“No question we have to be better from our execution to our battle level to our work ethic.”
The Rangers have stepped up in class here, but have not stepped up their game. Fatigue is a factor, but it can’t be a crutch. Too many upper-echelon Blueshirts, notably Brad Richards, Marian Gaborik and Derek Stepan, have been too quiet throughout the series in which the mute button has been on just about every Rangers forward other than Chris Kreider.
On Sunday, Tortorella talked about gamesmanship. On Monday, the Rangers had no game. The eastern final may be tied at 2-2, but the Battle of the Hudson is tilting west.
larry.brooks@nypost.com