The player who couldn’t do enough for the Rangers is now doing more than any team could ever ask for.
Following 40-goal seasons in two of his first three years with the Blueshirts, Marian Gaborik managed only nine goals in 35 games last season before being traded to the Blue Jackets in April 2013.
Fourteen months later, he may be the biggest impediment to the Rangers’ first Stanley Cup in 20 years.
Gaborik, who scored the game-tying goal late in the third period of Game 7 of the Western Conference finals on Sunday, leads all players with 12 playoff goals and has given the Kings (league-best 3.48 goals per game in the playoffs) a tremendously different identity from the Jonathan Quick-carried Cup run of 2012.
He is the only player with double-digit goals in the playoffs and has twice as many as any Ranger.
“He’s a goal scorer. He’s a sniper,” said former teammate Anton Stralman. “That’s what he does.”
That wasn’t what he did most recently with the Rangers, or the Blue Jackets.
After being limited to 22 games with Columbus this season due to injury, Gaborik was traded to the Kings on March 5. After scoring five goals in 19 games with Los Angeles in the regular season, the 32-year-old has found incredible chemistry with Anze Kopitar in the playoffs, reminding the Rangers what they envisioned when they signed Gaborik as a free agent in 2009.
In 25 playoff games with the Blueshirts, Gaborik tallied six goals and seven assists, as he scored on 7.5 percent of his shots. In 21 games with the Kings, the Conn Smythe candidate has 19 points in 21 games, while scoring on 18.5 percent of his shots.
“He was a great teammate and a great guy and we enjoyed him in this locker room,” Marc Staal said. “He’s been playing great there and we have to do our best to shut him down.
“He’s scoring a ton of goals, and he’s going to be a challenge for us that we need to watch. He’s got a great release and he doesn’t need a lot of time with the puck around the net. You got to be aware of where he is. He can be pretty sneaky around the net.”
Nearly every defender said their extensive knowledge of Gaborik’s game won’t mean as much as it may against other players because of the difficulty in containing the biggest weapon in his arsenal — speed.
“He’s one of those guys that you really have to try and contain and you can’t give too much room or space,” Stralman said. “With his speed he can beat you even in short distances and small puck races. It’s key to be on your toes all the time and try and take time and space away as much as possible.
“We always have to be in support mode. He’s got moves, too. He can beat a player one-on-one. We need those layers. If one of us gets beat, someone else has to step in there.”
Ryan McDonagh doesn’t think anyone needs any extra motivation at this point, but Gaborik just got it anyway.
“Any team you’ve been part of before in the past and you’re facing them, you’re going to have some sort of excitement,” McDonagh said. “I’m sure he’s just as excited as we are. It’s a lot of people’s first time in the Stanley Cup finals.”