NHL

Coach doesn’t blame Gaborik for Rangers’ Game 2 loss

There was no getting away from the fact Marian Gaborik spent a lot of time on the bench in Game 2, a game the Rangers lost to the Devils, 3-2, knotting the Eastern Conference finals at one game apiece.

Gaborik failed to make a routine clear in the second period which led to the Devils’ game-tying goal, and coach John Tortorella decided to not play him the first 11:02 of the third period nor in the final 1:29 when goalie Henrik Lundqvist was pulled for the extra attacker.

After the game, Tortorella refused to answer questions about it in his 1:17 press conference , but on a 13-minute conference call yesterday, the coach justified his decision.

“I think all coaches do it,” Tortorella said. “I think you’re trying to put players in situations that help you win games. Some guys, when you just don’t think it’s working, they don’t see the ice and don’t get the minutes.

“Those are decisions we make every game,” he continued. “You guys [the media] like calling it benching and all that stuff, [but] as coaches we’re trying to find a way to win a hockey game and we make decisions accordingly.”

Gaborik was forthright after the game, saying he needs to do better in Game 3 tomorrow afternoon at Prudential Center. But Tortorella also wanted to make it clear the loss does not fall solely on the shoulders of one man.

“I think as you go into playoffs and you go into these momentum swings of winning a game and losing a game, it’s not one individual guy,” Tortorella said. “Certainly in [Wednesday’s] game, it wasn’t one individual guy that we end up on the wrong side of that.”

Gaborik led the Rangers in the regular season with 41 goals, but has just one in the past four games and four total in the 16 playoffs games. When asked if a scorer like Gaborik not getting goals could cause frustration, Tortorella said, “Can’t. And I don’t think it does.”

* The Devils are proud of the pressure they have put on the Rangers so far through this series, and they think it’s their ability to out-muscle the Blueshirts that has been so beneficial.

“We’re a heavy team,” Devils coach Peter DeBoer said. “We’re heavy on the puck, heavy on our sticks, heavy in the corners and along the walls. That’s the way we’re built, when we’re playing our best in those areas of the ice.”

* For a guy that wasn’t a big offensive factor for the Devils in the regular season, Bryce Salvador is making an impact in the playoffs.

The 36-year-old defenseman, who went 82 games with zero goals and nine assists, is tied for fifth on the team with eight postseason points (two goals, six assists), including an assist on David Clarkson’s game-winning goal Wednesday.

“I don’t know, I think maybe contract year,” joked DeBoer, referencing that Salvador will be an unrestricted free agent after this season. “He’s an unsung warrior for us. I can tell you he’s the one guy that probably doesn’t even know how many points he’s got.”