NHL

Brassard making impact with Rangers

FITTING IN: Derick Brassard contributed the assist on Dan Girardi’s winning goal in overtime to beat the Islanders on Saturday night. (
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Derick Brassard came to the Rangers with a ripped undershirt.

He was told he’s no longer in Columbus, he’s no longer a Blue Jacket, and could have a new undershirt if he’d like. But the 25-year-old likes the one he has had for two years, and if he keeps playing the way he did Saturday night at the Coliseum, rest assured the Rangers will let him wear whatever he pleases.

“I think there’s going to be a learning curve there,” coach John Tortorella said after the 1-0 overtime win, when Brassard made a terrific saucer pass 3:11 into the extra frame setting up Dan Girardi’s game winner. “These types of games are good situations on how hard you have to play.”

The Rangers got Brassard in the trade-deadline deal that sent Marian Gaborik packing, in return for some young talent. The Jackets’ first-round pick (sixth overall) in 2006 has seemingly been the biggest asset, showing skill that only materialized sporadically in Columbus.

“He’s a talented kid,” Tortorella said, “and he makes a great play there.”

It wasn’t entirely surprising to see Tortorella trust Brassard with some ice in overtime, considering he had played him 19:22 throughout the game, the most he has played in his six games as a Ranger and the fourth-most among the Blueshirts forwards. Just a week ago, Tortorella spent a whole five-minute overtime against the Penguins in Pittsburgh with the offensively talented winger Mats Zuccarello stapled to the bench, so it’s clear there is no equanimity with the game on the line.

And the coach was rewarded when Brassard made the play that won a game not only rife with emotion, but serious playoff implications.

“I was just trying to gain the middle there,” Brassard said of the assist, his fifth in six games to go with the goal he scored in his first game as a Ranger on April 3. “Four-on-four, our defensemen try to get up the ice. That’s how you create more chances and you can have a three-on-two. I saw Dan, he’s got a long stick. I put it up in a space and he did a goal scorer’s goal there.”

NHL STANDINGS

So with seven games remaining, the Rangers (21-16-4) are still in eighth place, ceding the loser’s point to the Islanders (21-16-5), who remain in seventh with six games left — the final five on the road. For the Rangers, it starts tomorrow night in Philadelphia, where the crumbling Flyers will surely like to play the role of spoiler.

No matter the competition, the intensity will be ratcheted up over these final two weeks. For Brassard, Saturday night at the Coliseum was a start.

“I’ve never played in a game like that,” he said. “It was unreal.”

One thing Tortorella is happy about is how the middle of his lineup has been bolstered with the Gaborik deal, in addition to another deal that brought power forward Ryane Clowe from the Sharks.

“We found that out really quickly when we started playing this year that we lost the middle of our lineup,” Tortorella said. “I don’t think any of us really felt how naked we’d really be. I felt it the first game.

“It has added a little more grind to our game, and I think we’re going to need that as we go through the stretch here and if we go into the playoffs.”