WASHINGTON — Finally, after all these years during which ice time was assigned largely by the names on the players’ backs and the numbers on their paychecks, accountability has a meaning as far as the Rangers are concerned.
Last night, it meant that Michal Rozsival, a liability essentially every time he was on the ice, was benched for the final half of the match with coach John Tortorella cutting down to five defensemen for the final 31:13 of the Blueshirts’ stirring 4-3 victory over the Caps.
“It’s my job as a coach to look at the game and see who’s going and who isn’t,” said Tortorella. “We shortened up on defense because the other guys were better.”
Imagine. The head coach of the Rangers sitting a veteran — and a veteran making $5 million, no less — while following through on his pledge to give ice time to those who earn it.
Dan Girardi (24:04, 10:23 in the third) and Marc Staal were excellent. Wade Redden worked hard in close quarters. Matt Gilroy got a heaping 9:06 in the third and a sum of 21:33 in which he did fine. Michael Del Zotto, whose headman pass sprung Marian Gaborik for the power play winner, played a gutsy 14:05.
“What I like about the kids is that I don’t think they’re afraid,” Tortorella said of Del Zotto and Gilroy. “They don’t want to test the water, they want to make a difference.
“They make mistakes, yes, but they are mistakes of aggression. We want to be aggressive away from the puck as a team where we’re not afraid to make mistakes.”
The Rangers scrambled all night to stay with the powerhouse, albeit careless, Capitals in open ice. They battled hard against a physically stronger team in the one-on-ones, giving support when required.
“In order for a team to believe in the system, there has to be some success,” said Tortorella, whose team has won three in a row. “The mindset is very important.”
If the mindset as exemplified by Ryan Callahan becomes contagious, the Blueshirts will be fine. The winger, who required treatment during the day after his back had seized up during the morning skate, was a wrecking crew unto himself during his 22:12.
It was his goal on a four-on-four breakaway midway through the second that brought the Rangers back to 1-1 after Alexander Semin had scored in the first after stripping Rozsival. Callahan, who beat Jose Theodore with a backhand, had been denied on a shorthand attempt just moments earlier.
“I have no idea how I had the legs to get down the ice again,” Callahan said, laughing. “I almost couldn’t believe it.
“It must have been those 15 laps we had to do for Torts the first day of camp.”
Up 2-1 after two periods, the Rangers fell into a 2-2 tie at 3:17 of the third when Henrik Lundqvist somehow fanned on Nicklas Backstrom’s 85-footer along the ice.
“I don’t know what happened,” Lundqvist said. “I was so shocked when it went in, I didn’t know what to think.”
Then the Rangers fell behind 3-2 on Backstrom’s power play goal from the slot at 7:51.
But Gaborik scored twice, at even-strength at 8:09 and then on the power play at 10:42, both times going five-hole on wicked wrist shots.
“That’s why we signed him,” Lundqvist said.
And having the fortitude to sit Rozsival is why the Rangers signed Tortorella.