NHL

Rangers shut out Canucks

The Rangers not only proved last night they are capable of playing with and beating the big boys, but they also demonstrated that their coach just might not always know what he’s talking about.

For two hours before last night’s opening faceoff against the powerful Canucks, John Tortorella told the press that the Rangers would, “need some goals, because we’re not going to win the hockey game, 1-0.”

“Oh, he told you guys that?” Brandon Dubinsky wanted to know after the game quite naturally had ended, Rangers 1, Vancouver 0.

“He said that to us, too.”

And then, after the Rangers sent the first-overall Canucks to their first regulation defeat in 18 games since Dec. 5 (14-3), Tortorella entered the press room laughing at himself.

“I was praying they’d tie it up and we’d win 2-1 in OT,” the coach joked. “No, I was I happy to eat those words, I’ll tell you.”

It was a prototypical effort from the 2010-11 Black-and-Blueshirts, a victory over an elite opponent with varied weapons constructed on strong one-on-one work; a willingness to both take a hit to make a play and to make a hit to prevent one; dedication to blocking shots; pristine penalty-killing; and an outstanding performance from Henrik Lundqvist, exceptionally quick in recording 31 saves.

“We came into the game with a lot of respect for them, but the key was that we didn’t respect them too much,” The King said after prevailing in his battle with Swedish countrymen Henrik and Daniel Sedin. “There was so much talk about them being the hottest team in the league, sometimes you can start off on your heels, but we went out and played our game against them.”

It was an intense game, alternately contested in close quarters and in open ice, though the Rangers’ support off the forecheck and in the neutral zone kept Vancouver odd-man rushes to a minimum by negating the late man coming from behind to join the rush.

The defense in turn was excellent in standing up at the line, with Tortorella heaping praise on Ryan McDonagh, the freshman playing in his fourth NHL game, saying, “I watched him very closely as far as his mindset, and he played very well as far as his arrogance standing up and playing with the right kind of strut.”

That mindset applied to everyone in uniform, and notably to Chris Drury, who played hungry, intense hockey in his fourth-line role and then subbing for checking purposes for Mats Zuccarello for three shifts the final five minutes.

The Rangers got the only goal they’d need when Wojtek Wolski went to the net off a power play right wing draw and swatted home Marian Gaborik’s rebound to beat the steadfast Cory Schneider at 7:18 of the second.

Their greatest challenge in protecting the lead came late in the second when the Canucks had a 47-second two-man advantage where the first penalty came when Alex Burrows’ spear to Marc Staal’s family jewels was missed, but the defenseman’s retaliatory chop was not.

Brian Boyle blocked two shots on the five-on-three that was part of a 3:13 kill against the NHL’s best power play. The Rangers then battled through the third, even as the Canucks pressed matters.

“Montreal [2-1 on Tuesday] was a tough loss. This was a good answer by the way we played,” said Tortorella, who was busy pouring ketchup over his pre-game pronouncement.

larry.brooks@nypost.com