NHL

AVERY A NON-FACTOR IN RETURN TO GARDEN

In terms of memorable one-man Broadway revival shows, this one really wasn’t. In fact, Sean Avery’s return to the Garden turned out to be a fair amount of ado about not all that much.

Which is exactly what the Rangers produced last night.

Not that much.

It was 2-1 Dallas against a Blueshirt team that now has scored two goals – plus one awarded on a shootout victory – in its last three games at home.

It was 2-1 Dallas against a team that was coached incredibly conservatively by Tom Renney, who, for example, had the Blair Betts-Fredrik Sjostrom-Colton Orr line on for an offensive-zone draw with 8:40 to go in the third and his team trailing by a goal.

Of course, with Chris Drury, Markus Naslund and lately Nikolai Zherdev lackluster at even-strength, the coach’s options are limited. Except, of course, he could and should have leaned far more on Scott Gomez, who got only 20:31 of ice despite another dynamic game.

The night, though, and whatever show there was, focused on Avery, who played a disciplined, understated game, getting 17 shifts and 13:55 of ice time.

Avery had words during warm-ups for Steve Valiquette, who’d made it clear in yesterday’s Post that No. 16 was not missed in the Rangers’ locker room. He had words during the pregame skate for Brandon Dubinsky, who had implied the same in The Post.

He yapped at Henrik Lundqvist for no apparent reason other than, as the old story goes about the snake and the turtle, that’s his nature. Avery got into Lundqvist’s kitchen during the first shift, whereupon he was immediately intercepted by Dubinsky.

“Before the game we said to forget about him,” said Dubinsky, who had a strong game. “We played two years with him, so we know what he’s all about, we know what his intentions are.

“He was a non-factor.”

Avery took stiffer hits than he delivered during the match, including the time he was nailed up high by Paul Mara at 7:30 of the third.

Here’s the Avery Rule that remains constant: If he goes down, referees are not likely to make a call, foul or not.

Other than telling the press he was about to take his teammates out for dinner, Avery did not speak after the game to writers. He did, however, speak to MSG-TV.

“Valiquette is a minor-leaguer, so what [else] than to talk about me,” Avery said.

Before the game, Renney referred to the hype as a, “circus.” Indeed, it turned out to be anything but, with Avery receiving a mixture of applause and boos in a building that contained many Avery jersey-wearing fans.

Afterward, Renney, who has never minimized Avery’s contributions to the Rangers, was asked about the winger’s impact on the game.

“You know what? He played hockey,” the head coach said. “He came here on a business trip basically and he played hockey.

“Their team won the hockey game, and I think that translates into a successful contribution.”

larry.brooks@nypost.com