NHL

RANGERS’ ‘TOP’ PLAN; NOT CHANGING

When coach Tom Renney put Markus Naslund, Chris Drury and Scott Gomez together on the Rangers’ top line, he envisioned a lot more than what he’s been getting: poor chemistry and inconsistent performance.

But he’s not ready to abandon the plan just yet.

“They haven’t connected the way any of us would like, certainly them,” Renney said after practice yesterday. “But they’re very close. That’s the thing you’ve gotta be careful of. Don’t raise the white [flag] because of a rough stretch of games.”

Instead, he intends to stick with the group, at least for tonight when the Blueshirts host the Maple Leafs at the Garden.

“We’re not gonna panic,” said Renney, whose team suffered its first defeat on Wednesday. “We certainly shouldn’t with that combination of people.”

The line wasn’t together on the ice yesterday because Gomez was out after taking a shot off of his leg in the loss. Dmitri Kalinin was out for the same reason. Both are expected to play.

Though they didn’t skate together in practice, Drury sounded consident that the trio would click soon.

“We have to keep pushing,” the captain said. “It feels like we’re getting closer and good things are going to come.”

Renney’s primary focus yesterday was for his team to forget about its shoddy performance against Buffalo.

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Renney indicated that Henrik Lundqvist would most likely get a game off soon, since the Rangers have three games in four nights. He said he hadn’t decided who would start tonight.

The Russian league that Rangers prospect Alexei Cherepanov was playing in when he died on Monday announced yesterday that it would begin “an exhaustive investigation” into the circumstances surrounding his death.

The 19-year-old former first round pick collapsed during a game and the league has come under fire for not taking enough security measures, like having a defibrillator on site. The cause of death remains unclear.

“The KHL is committed to the safety of our players and will ensure that all member teams provide the highest level of medical care for our players,” league president Alexander Medvedev said.

dan.martin@nypost.com

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