Before receiving the slew of giveaways, Comeau was bombarded by other light objects almost two hours earlier when his third goal prompted the Nassau Coliseum crowd to send hats crashing to the ice. The celebration was sparked by Comeau’s surging offensive production as the 24-year-old had his first career hat trick to key the Islanders 5-2 win over Chicago on Tuesday night.

The Islanders looked rusty in its first game off the NHL’s two-week Olympic break. But after allowing 22 first-period shots in going down 2-1, the Isles surged to four goals in the second. Comeau capped that barrage, tallying his third goal with 17.3 seconds left off  Rob Schremp and Mark Streit’s crisp passes that set up his shot from the slot.

“It was a great feeling,” Comeau said. “It was a great pass by [Streit]. He had the shot lane and he chose to pass. I was excited and it was good to be able to get the win with it.”

Comeau has six goals in his past three games. After going 151 games without a multi-goal game, Comeau accomplished the feat in back-to-back contests. He scored twice against Ottawa before the Olympic break and added three clutch goals against a Blackhawks team that entered the night trailing San Jose by just two points for the league’s best record.

Dwayne Roloson shrugged off trade rumors and made 41 saves for his first victory since Jan. 21. Roloson said Comeau’s production, which now includes a three-game goal scoring streak, isn’t surprising.

“He’s shooting a lot better but unfortunately I have to see him in practice now,” Roloson said with a grin.

Islanders coach Scott Gordon said he has been trying to encourage Comeau to shoot more instead of focusing on passing during most scoring opportunities. The left-winger responded by firing a team-leading four shots while using a stick that formerly belonged to teammate Trent Hunter.

“It’s the best I felt in awhile,” said Comeau, who has 12 goals. “It’s a confidence booster when you’re contributing offensively.”

Roloson might not be around to face Comeau in practice. The 40-year-old was still with the team last night but saw defenseman Andy Sutton traded earlier in the day. Islanders general manager Garth Snow sent the 6-6 Sutton to the Ottawa Senators in exchange for a 2010 second round draft pick that formerly belonged to San Jose.

Rick DiPietro is still listed as out indefinitely after his surgically repaired left knee swelled up on Sunday. That could mean Snow might not trade Roloson by Wednesday’s deadline. Roloson is signed through next season.

The Islanders won for just the third time in the past 12 games. Gordon’s team has won its last two games but problems persist. A struggling power play unit did not generate any man advantage opportunities against the Blackhawks. The team is just 2-for-41 on the power play in the last 11 games.

Rookie John Tavares was minus-1 in playing just 10:17. The top overall draft pick was held without a goal for the 30th time in the last 32 games.

Islanders vs. Blackhawks Audio Report March 3, 2010

But back-to-back losing performances against first-place clubs demonstrated just how far the Isles need to go to hang with league’s elite opponents.

Washington’s NHL-best offense surged to five goals on its first 18 shots as the Capitals consistently torched the Islanders defense in a 7-2 trouncing on Tuesday night. The defeat came four days after the Atlantic Division-leading Devils exited Nassau Coliseum with a victory.

“It seemed like they had the puck for 40 seconds at a time making great moves,” captain Doug Weight said. “We were doing a lot of covering up and that’s not going to work. We certainly left our goalies out to dry.”

The Islanders have lost three of its last four after starting January 6-1. The latest defeat was compounded by a key injury when defenseman Jack Hillen needed a visit to North Shore hospital after getting struck in the face with Alex Ovechkin’s  first-period shot.

Hillen could be out 6-8 weeks with a broken jaw.

Ovechkin entered with 33 goals. The 24-year two-time MVP failed to score but fired 10 shots as five different Capitals scored. Weight compared Washington to the Red Wings team that won four Stanley Cups from 1997-2008.

“They control the puck and frustrate you,” Weight said. “It’s going to happen once in awhile. We need to get back to basics. We stopped finishing our checks.”

Starting goalie Dwayne Roloson was benched after a hellacious first period after allowing four goals on 12 shots. Replacement Rick DiPietro didn’t fare much better, surrendering three goals on 21 shots to the conference’s top team.

“I think it’s just a function of getting away from our game,” DiPietro said. “When you don’t finish checks, you give them opportunities to move the puck around and be successful. That’s what they did.”

Rob Schremp and Kyle Okposo scored for the Islanders as Washington won its fourth straight game at the Coliseum dating to last season.

Alexander Semin scored both of his goals against Roloson, including the last tally with four seconds left in the first. Brendan Morrison, Mike Knuble, John Erskine, Jason Chimera and Brooks Laich also added goals to lift Washington to a season-high seventh straight win.

Losses to the Penguins, Devils and Capitals in seven days have kept the Islanders out of the eighth playoff spot. Gordon’s team tied a season-high in goals allowed, giving up six goals or more for the fifth time this season.

The Islanders will try and regroup on a four-game road trek starting Thursday in Carolina.

“We have to rally with the trip here,” Weight said. “We just came through a streak where a lot of our wins were against top-echelon teams, both on the road and at home.”

Morrison and Semin staked the Capitals to a 2-0 lead through the opening 4:49 before Washington added two more goals in the period’s final 97 seconds to take a 4-0 lead.

Before the fans could get settled, Morrison positioned himself in front of the Islanders crease and in perfect position to deflect Erskne’s top left circle shot past Roloson for his 11th goal just 1:05 in.

Semin deked around Frans Nielsen and moved past Trent Hunter before beating Roloson glove-side almost three minutes later for a two-goal edge.

Schremp responded with a power play goal just 1:14 later to cut the Islanders deficit to a single goal. Schremp’s sixth goal ended a five-game goal-less streak for the rookie forward.

Yet the Capitals worked quickly to re-establish a cushion and in the process deprive the Islanders of one of its most reliable defenseman.

Killing off a penalty, Hillen left the game with 2:31 left in the first after Ovechkin’s deflected shot hit him square in the face. A stretcher was brought out, though Hillen was able to get up and skate to the dressing room as blood smeared the ice just in front of the goal crease.

“It shouldn’t have happened because of what we should have been doing on the faceoff,” Islanders coach Scott Gordon said. “Once he went down, I knew it wasn’t going to be good.”

Knuble scored when play resumed, taking advantage of Sean Bergenheim’s holding penalty. Semin scored off his own rebound in the waning for a 4-1 lead, prompting boos as time expired.

Gordon said he lifted Roloson to preserve the 40-year-old’s confidence.

“I didn’t want him to get beat up over the game,” Gordon said. “They were obviously at their top and to have a goal scored late like that…I thought it was an opportunity to have Ricky in there and not have it all come down on [Roloson].”

DiPietro replaced Roloson coming out of intermission and looked rusty when Erskine beat him on a stoppable shot 2:36 into the period.

Okposo netted his second goal in two games with a hard shot from the slot before Chimera scored the Capitals sixth goal at 13:58. Laich’s short-range wrist shot over DiPietro’s shoulder capped the scoring 14:52 into the final period.

Islanders vs. Carolina Audio Report Jan. 26, 2010

“It feels great scoring eight goals,” said forward Vinny Prospal, who was one of eight Blueshirts to light the lamp. “The Lightning played well last night against Carolina, they have a dangerous hockey team, they have a lot of defense. So it feels great that we were able to do right from the start – shut them down and run up the score.”

All in all, the goals went to all the secondary scoring guys not named Marion Gaborik.  Brandon Dubinsky, Prospal, Chris Drury, Dan Girardi, Enver Lisin, Marc Staal, Aaron Voros, and Christopher Higgins, respectively lit the lamp, as the Rangers fought for the puck right from the start of the match, almost a continuation of Sunday night’s 6-2 win over the Canadiens.

“We are trying to stay consistent out there,” said coach John Tortorella. “We are trying to stay consistent with finishing checks and again defending the proper way. I though the first period both teams were giving up chances left and right and we are fortunate to score a few goals.”

Actually the game was quite tight in the first. After going up 2-0, Vinny Lecavalier was able to cut the lead in half at 17:21, but 1:12 later, Drury came up with his tally and it was all Rangers after that.

And the onslaught continued in the second and the third as the Ranger forecheck strangled the Lightning, keeping them pinned into their own zone for large portions of the period.

“Sometimes you get a stick on the puck where maybe a couple a weeks (ago) you weren’t getting your stick on the puck,” Tortorella said. “You end up scoring a few goals the prior game, you feel more confident about it. I am not going to sit and tell you an explanation why we are scoring goals here. It’s a good thing. We are continuing to try to play our game. The important thing was also playing away from the puck.”

So the Rangers will now continue onto Philly for a game on Thursday, as the Blueshirts continue to fight on in the east.

As for the Lightning, well, they will go back to the best place they have been all day.

“The only thing we did today was get on the bus on time,” said Tampa Bay coach Rick Tocchet. “The bus driver was the best thing we had.”

Notes:

• The first time New York tallied six-or-more goals in back-to-back games since the 2006-07 season (Mar. 31 at Philadelphia, 6-4; Apr. 1 vs. Toronto, 7-2); the last time the Blueshirts notched six-or-more goals in back-to-back home games was Nov. 12, 2003 vs. Pittsburgh (6-2) and Nov. 23, 2003 vs. Ottawa (6-2).
• New York have now posted a record of 24-19-7 (55 pts.) overall and 12-11-4 (28 pts.) at home this season; the Rangers have now tallied a point in 14 of their last 17 games (10-3-4).
• New York notched three goals in the opening frame tonight, marking the third straight period the Rangers tallied three goals in a period following three-goal performances in the second and third periods of Sunday’s 6-2 win vs. Montreal; it is the first time since the 1998-99 season the Rangers accomplished the feat (third period of a 6-6 tie on Nov. 17 at Toronto and all three periods of a 10-2 win on Nov. 10 at Tampa Bay). *Statistic courtesy of the Elias Sports Bureau
• The Rangers had eight different goal scorers and 16 different players register at least one point; the last time the Rangers had eight players score a goal in one game was a 10-5 win on Dec. 13, 1992 vs. Montreal;  New York’s 16 players with at least one point ties the franchise record for a single game, accomplished twice before – Oct. 25, 1984 at New Jersey (W, 11-2) and Feb. 17, 1985 vs. the NY Islanders (W, 9-3). *Statistic courtesy of the Elias Sports Bureau

Last night’s game against the Islanders was a call to arms for the Rangers. Are they are a team or are they just a collection of overpaid veterans just looking to collect their check?

After benching Wade Redden and Ales Kotalik, the Rangers responded and thanks to an ill advised Islander starting of a very tired Dwayne Roloson, who gave up three goals on the Rangers first five shots in their eventual 5-2 win.

“I think, collectively, as a team, we responded well and everybody realized what they had to do,” right wing Ryan Callahan, who scored two goals in the match, said. “I think it’s a little bit of both. Obviously, Hank is the backbone of this team and he made some key saves.”

Lundqvist made sure the Rangers had a chance as he stopped the Islander onslaught during the first 10 minutes of the game when the Isles outshot the Rangers 10-1. Being up for the challenge, Lundqvist kept the Rangers in the match as his teammates got their legs.

“It’s happened a lot of times in this building,” Lundqvist said. “They come out flying and we have a tough time settling in. It was important for me personally and for the team to stay in there. I don’t know how we had the lead after the first period, but we did.”

But a win is a win and the Rangers will now move forward with maybe with a new found lease on life. There’s no word on Redden and Kotalik, both of who sat in the press box for the match. After a shouting match between the defenseman and coach John Tortorella, Redden was worked out by assistant coach Mike Sullivan and then expressed his displeasure to the media.

“Not real pleased about it, honestly,” Redden said.  “To be singled out – I know the team’s going through struggles and everyone’s got to be better.  The fact that I’m sitting out – I mean, I’m not real happy about it.”

Redden acted like he was losing money here, but let’s remember his $39 million contract will still be paid even if he’s sitting on the bench. And for him to be “singled out” is a joke, because he’s been playing this way for a year and a half.

Yet, you have to blame Sather for that signing, yet he will still get paid as well. Even though some morning show commentators were saying he was set to get canned, the Rangers president’s job is safe for now.

And you can look for Tortorella to go as well, but at least the coach has abandoned his old offense first mantra and started to do some neutral zone trapping over the past two weeks.

So, all is well for one night at least as the Rangers try to save the season. But is this just one night or a start of something big?

We will soon find out.

The Blueshirts played hard last night, especially in the third period, but John Tortorella’s crew just couldn’t score on the power play, as they went 0-5 on the night, including an 0-3 in the third period.

“Well we can say it is unfair…whatever,” Tortorella said. “We just came away empty.  I thought it was important tonight that we get consecutive games.  I thought we played two good games.  You just want to get something out of it, at least a point out of it but we didn’t.  We just have to fight through it.  We fought through it after a shaky start.  We will just get back at it.”

You probably have heard this story before. This is a team that’s built for offense, but only has one scorer, and since they sacrifice the defensive end, Henrik Lundqvist is left naked out there in the crease.

And last night’s game personified that problem. Although the team played very hard, the Red Wings were determined to keep Marion Gaborik off the board, leaving it in the hands of the rest of the Rangers, who could only muster a goal by Brian Boyle in the first period.

Without any other scoring, the team was left fighting for opportunities. Sean Avery missed an open net in the third and Ryan Callahan was stopped on a penalty shot.

“I thought I had him,” Callahan said. “I did the move the way I wanted to, but he just came up with a toe save.”

Now, they did look better in the past two games on defense, allowing Lundqvist to do his job.

“ I like the way we play in our own zone,” Lundqvist said.  “It feels like we are more in control and we are not running around too much and guys are doing a good job with that.  We have calmed down a little bit.  You don’t feel like you have to cover up for anyone else.  They are doing a good job coming back.  That is a good thing and something we will keep on doing.  We played well enough in our zone and in the defensive zone to win this game.”

But these aren’t Tom Renney’s Rangers who are built to keep goals off the board; this is Tortorella’s team, which is failing to come through in the clutch.

And that’s the story this year. Too many times the team has failed to come through in the clutch, just drifting along through the first two months of the season hoping for some consistency.

And before you ask, Marian Gaborik only had two.

The Rangers finally broke out of the scoring drought with a 7-4 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. Goal after goal, the team looked sharp, which is precisely the team needed.

“We had a good forecheck and we kept playing in their zone which was important,” said Gaborik, who also had two assists to go along with his two goals. “Our defensive side of the game was good. We’re talking about having the third guy coming back and being responsible defensively and I think we did that.  It has to carry over on the road. We haven’t had a long trip in a while so we have to build on this and just go from here.”

The welcomed relief came after a well timed time out called by coach John Tortorella. After the Blue Jackets went up 2-0 at 9:31 of the first period, the team got a break.

“It was good to have a break, that is for sure,” said goaltender Henrik Lundqvist. “I think the first goal was huge.  To get that in the first period and not go in here trailing 3-0.  We needed some positive energy and we got that from [Marian Gaborik].  After that, you could see how we got confidence.”

After No. 10 put the Rangers on the board, the secondary scoring happened. First Artim Anisimov scored followed by Michael Del Zotto to give the Rangers the lead in first 3-2.

Then in the second the goals kept coming. Sean Avery scored at 6:12 to chase Steve Mason, and his replacement Mathieu Garon came in with a tank of gas and a book of matches.

Less than a minute later, Avery scored again, followed by Gaborik after another 20 seconds, to make it 6-2.

“The biggest thing was coming back from a two goal deficit,” said Avery. “I think regardless of what the score was, coming back and winning a game after you’re losing 2-0 us big for a team that is struggling. I hope it puts everybody around here in a good mood.”

Matt Gilroy capped the Ranger scoring later that period with beautiful breakaway beating Garon.

Even with the seven goals, Columbus was able to make it close with a goal late in the second and one in the third.

“Do you think we were going to score seven goals tonight?” Tortorella said. “Who knows how this happens. When you go through some tough times, you need to stick with it. We got a bunch of breaks and their goaltending wasn’t that great. You can’t figure it.”

The Rangers now go on a three game road trip that includes both Florida destinations and Pittsburgh before coming home next day to Madison Square Garden.

Notes: After allowing the game’s first two goals, New York tallied seven straight from 11:29 of the first period to 12:47 of the second, marking the first time the Rangers tallied seven unanswered goals since a 7-0 victory against Boston on Mar. 7, 2009; the Blueshirts tallied three goals in a 71-second span in the second period…Marian Gaborik led all skaters with four points (two goals and two assists) to extend his point streak to seven games (seven goals and 13 points); he also tied for the game-high with a plus-three rating…Sean Avery notched two goals in 51 seconds, including one power play tally and the game-winning goal; it was his second multi-goal effort on the season and 10th of his career.

Save that myth for the casual basketball fan.

Real basketball followers know that’s not always the case.

And, if you’ve watched the first four New York Knick games this season, you especially know what a huge difference getting off to a good start means to their success.

It took three tries in a span of four nights, but the Knicks finally figured out what sometimes makes a strong fourth quarter hold up in an NBA game –- playing just as well in the first quarter.

Persistence pays.

So does another cliché… playing from ahead instead of playing catch-up.

After a season-opening blowout loss in Miami, the Knicks lost their next two games in pretty much the same fashion.

On Friday, New York had a big fourth quarter, outscoring the Charlotte Bobcats 27-13, which was only good enough for a double overtime loss because the Knicks came out flat and trailed 32-13 after the first quarter.

The following night, New York again dominated the fourth period, 41-26, but all that did was cancel out a miserable first quarter in which the Philadelphia 76ers outscored the Knicks 40-25, before later beating them in overtime.

On Monday night at Madison Square Garden however, the Knicks finally learned their lesson.

This time, playing from the start, with focus, passion, intensity, and a sense of purpose, a fourth quarter in which the Knicks outscored the New Orleans Hornets 40-30, didn’t go to waste.

That’s because it was coupled by New York also winning the first period, 31-24, slightly more than the final margin of victory in the Knicks’ 117-111 win over the Hornets, despite Chris Paul again doing what he does best.

The victory was the 300th regular season win in career of Knicks’ head coach Mike D’Antoni, who laid out some specific pre-game goals before the win. “Keep our intensity up for 48 minutes, play together, and move the ball,” he said.

That sounds fairly simple, but those were all areas in which the Knicks lacked while beginning the season with three straight losses, their worst start since going 0-5 in 2005.

Well, check, check, and check on all three accounts, and then some, against New Orleans (1-3), which lost its second straight on a northeast road trip.

“I thought our defense was solid most of the night,” D’Antoni said, as he finally saw his team buy into buckling down and getting serious about making defensive stops.

“Just a better flow of the game,” he added. “It felt better offensively and defensively. Each guy came in and understood what he needed to do.”

The one guy who did it best for the Knicks was forward David Lee, who scored a team-high 28 points on 13 of 17 shooting from the floor, while adding eight rebounds. “He was huge,” D’Antoni said of Lee.

Lee’s efforts were complimented by that of former starter Al Harrington, who D’Antoni has preferred to use as a spark off the bench the past two games. As he did with his game-high 42 points on Saturday, Harrington responded in that role, matching Lee’s eight boards while scoring 24 points on 8 of 21 shooting from the field in 29:43.

On Harrington seemingly accepting his new role well, D’Antoni said “I hope he likes it because he’s doing a terrific job at it.”

After trailing by 31, 21, and 23 points in their first three games, and never leading after the first quarter in any of those games, the Knicks came to play early against the Hornets, scoring 14 straight points to take a 16-6 lead in the opening period.

The seven-point lead the Knicks built after the first quarter, propelled New York to a 58-52 halftime lead. But Paul, widely considered the best point guard in the league, scored 11 of his game-high 32 to help the Hornets outscore the Knicks 29-19 in the third quarter and take an 81-77 lead going into the final period. Paul also had a game-high 13 assists with just two turnovers, and added five rebounds, while shooting 12 of 18 from the floor (including 4 of 5 from three-point range) and 4 of 5 at the free throw line.

However, it was the fast start in the opening quarter, leading to the six-point halftime lead, which allowed yet another big fourth quarter by New York to be the difference between a third consecutive late rally falling short and instead, the Knicks’ first win of the season.

For the first time on the young season, the Knicks consistently exhibited solid team play, sound defense, a good motion offense, and nice ball movement, often finding the open man and exploiting the Hornets’ interior defense for easy baskets.

Most of all, keeping their intensity up as D’Antoni wanted, often diving after loose balls, deflecting passes, and just having a better overall court awareness, ultimately carried the Knicks to victory.

Although Lee and Harrington led the way, they had plenty of help as the Knicks played a nice team game, with 24 assist on their 43 field goals.

Guard Larry Hughes, scored 20 points on 8 of 13 shooting from the field, as the latest new starter in D’Antoni’s early season lineup experimentation, as the coach searches for the best floor combinations.

Knicks’ point guard Chris Duhon scored 18 points, making 8 of 9 free throw attempts, while dishing out 9 assists and turning the ball over just twice. And, forwards Danilo Gallinari and Wilson Chandler chipped in nine points apiece.

All around, it was largely a team effort. As Hughes pointed out, “It’s about coming out and playing hard for 48 minutes.” He added that offensively, “When we make those guys move, we can shoot the ball from anywhere. It makes the game a lot easier.” He also was happy for D’Antoni on reaching his personal milestone, saying “Congratulations to Coach!”

D’Antoni meanwhile, was happy just to get any win, and viewed the win as a positive sign of the potential of what could lie ahead when his team backs up on the court what he preaches to them in the locker room. “I was just encouraged the whole game,” he said. “We’ll just keep going forward… Much better tonight, we took a gigantic step forward.”

The Knicks can take their next step on Wednesday night, when they host 0-2 Indiana, who will first play at home against Denver on Tuesday, before coming to New York.

They won tight games and they won blow outs. They could shut out teams and they can win the shooting matches.

But one thing was constant during their first five wins, the Rangers were the better team on the ice.

That is until tonight where they were outplayed by a fresher Los Angeles Kings team, which pretty much outclassed the home team in every facet, except one – the final score.

Even with a superior effort by Los Angeles, the Blueshirts prevailed 4-2 to win their sixth straight in a row.

“We looked like a tired hockey club,” said coach John Tortorella, who saw his team not sweep a homestand, but also win the three games in four days. “I thought the guys were tried, we just couldn’t win the battle. We just couldn’t catch up with them but you still find a way to win one of those games when you are not on and we were not on.”

Much like a number of other wins this year, this is a game the Rangers would have lost last season. The difference here was the power play and man advantage goals by Vinny Prospal – the second being a 5-on-3 – in the first period to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead.

It was just enough to allow the team some comfort and leave it in the hands of Henrik Lundqvist who stopped 34 shots on the night.

“If we didn’t have Henrik in the net, who knows what the score would have been, but I guess it happens,” said Prospal who scored his 200th career goal in this match. “Sometimes you get outplayed and good teams find a way to win. Even though we didn’t play that great, we still didn’t give them anything in the third period.”

Speaking of the third, the Rangers only managed one shot, but what a shot it was. A great effort by Marian Gaborik who took a pass from Prospal and rode it along behind him like he was walking his dog. Then No. 10 composed himself which a tight wrister past Erik Ersberg (17 saves) to make the score 4-2.

In fact, all six of Gaborik’s goals this season have come in the third period.

“That’s is where game breakers make it,” Tortorella said. “That is just a great shot tonight. I thought Gaborik was our best player in all facets of the game. Third period is crunch time and he makes another big play.”

“He is a guy when he is on his game, he scores in bunches,” Prospal said. “Look at the fourth goal tonight. I don’t think too many guys can reach the shelf from where he did.”

So now the Rangers get a well deserved rest. A day off after this game means the team can rest comfortably, especially after the team looked drained for most of this match.

“The toughest part (of this game) is, obviously, the mental part,” Lundqvist said. “We know they are a really good tea, they showed it, especially in the second period where we struggled. They good part is that we didn’t panic.”

Notes: The Rangers play in Toronto on Saturday..Gaborik is tied for the league lead in goals with six and second in points with 10…Michael Del Zotto collected two assists; he now leads all first year played in league and ranks second among defensemen with seven points (two goals and five assists)…Brian Boyle scored the Rangers third goal, which proved to be the game winner in the second . It was his first light of the lamp as a Blueshirt.

The Toronto Maple Leafs didn’t know what hit them.

So much so that the Blueshirts scored four third period goals, including two by Sean Avery, to lead the team to a 7-2 laugher.

“We came out and had a good first period. I think with any team you get that comfortable mindset,” Avery said. “Torts told us before the game, great teams are the teams that stay consistent no matter what the score is or who you are playing. I think we pulled our socks up and came out and had a good third.”

Besides the two by Avery, Dan Girardi scored two and Wade Redden had a goal with two assists. As the Rangers were in control for almost the whole game.

Yet, that’s what good teams do against inferior opponents. Much like a mismatched college football game, John Tortorella’s team ran up the score and kept the pressure going, even with the game pretty much in hand. The Rangers were able to outstate their opponents due to being well conditioned, especially after the really tough training camp the coach put his team through.

“We have had some good third periods and we had another one tonight and I think the conditioning had something to do with it,” Tortorella said. “That is an important part, finishing the game. We felt we were fortunate, Hank made some good saves there in the second. We just wanted to get back on the attack and try to play in their end zone. I don’t know if it is conditioning related but we had another good third period so that is good news.”
“Some of that is going through the hard camp we went through,” said Rangers captain Chris Drury. “You don’t go through a hard camp and come out on the other side as mentally and physically demanding as it was, it forces you to come together. You can’t do it alone.”

And that’s the difference in these Rangers, they don’t rely upon just a few guys. Everyone gets involved. Ten different Rangers had points in last night’s match coming from forwards and defensemen. No matter who is on the ice, the team always feels they have a chance to score.

Part of that is the system Tortorella put in place, which emphasizes the backliners joining into the play when they see a chance. As a result Girardi and Redden had three of the seven goals, and since the beginning of the season, all of the defensemen have gotten involved, while also improving on keeping pucks out of the net.

“Our defensive game actually improved,” said Rangers netminder Henrik Lundqvist, who had 27 saves on the night. “It is tougher for teams to create scoring chances, I think, when we stay aggressive, when we play the way we want to play. We can see that already last year when Torts came in and we changed our style of play. It is tougher for teams to create chances. When we play the way we play, we are great offensively and defensively. It has been good. They have done a great job the last couple of games.”

So much so that the Rangers are on a roll and look very tough to beat right now.

Notes: The main event happened at 10:18 of the night when former Ranger enforcer Colton Orr met current tough guy Donald Brashear. The fight went to the judges and it came out to be a draw…The last time the Rangers scored seven goals was back on April 1, 2007 (no fooling) also against the Toronto Maple Leafs…The Blueshirts complete their three game home stand on Wednesday as the team takes on the Los Angeles Kings.

Henrik Lundqvist stopped all 35 shots allowing Ryan Callahan’s first period tally to hold up in a stunning 1-0 Game Two win over Washington at Verizon Center earlier today- letting the Rangers grab a commanding 2-0 series lead with Games 3 and 4 shifting to Madison Square Garden.

If the way they stole Game One was surprising, then the incredible poise they showed in silencing one of the game’s brightest stars and most potent offenses was equally as shocking. For after letting Alex Ovechkin fire shot after shot Wednesday, the Rangers were much better prepared for the league’s leading finisher, limiting him to six shots which were all challenged. They frustrated the Russian superstar who with the exception of a crossbar off the one great chance he had was kept in check.

That along with the Rangers remaining more disciplined taking only three penalties which they killed off allowed them to win a game most including myself didn’t expect them to. The forwards competed. The defense bent but never broke. And the goalie was unflappable. If the latter isn’t in Washington’s heads, then he’s awfully close after standing tall in denying all 16 shots sent his way in a frantic third.

Entering this series, Lundqvist needed to be the best player for the Rangers to have a realistic chance of pulling the upset. So far, he’s delivered by turning aside 67 of 70 shots. That included a huge stop on Nicklas Backstrom from the slot when the uncanny Swede used his mask to thwart one of the best Cap chances late. It’s that kind of caliber goaltending that’s allowed the Rangers to believe they can win this series.

Now, they’re in the driver’s seat coming home for what should be an amped up New York crowd. How they handle prosperity for the first time since earlier this season will go a long way to determining the outcome.

They got the lone goal in probably their worst period of the day when Callahan converted a two-on-one Markus Naslund feed going upstairs on rookie goalie Simeon Varlamov, who made the start in place of an ineffective Jose Theodore. It was the only goal he gave up finishing with a respectable 23 saves in his playoff debut.

Brandon Dubinsky started the play inside his own blueline catching Ovechkin and Mike Green deep springing Naslund and Callahan for the odd-man rush. The key defensive play along the boards by the Game One hero led to Naslund going wide before setting Callahan up perfectly for his first at 7:44. The Caps would get 13 shots in another strong first limiting the Blueshirts to only six but they had the one that mattered which allowed them to play their game.

If they weren’t good in the first 20 minutes, that changed as the Rangers began to take control in the second forcing Cap turnovers and establishing a forecheck. Something which was missing in the first game despite the outcome. It eventually led to four straight Capital penalties with Viktor Kozlov guilty of two. But the Ranger power play which was a huge surprise in Game One returned to form that saw them rank second to last during the season. The lack of a power play goal meant that they had no working margin.

It was the Ranger D which did the job keeping the Caps to the outside. In fact, they only tested Lundqvist six times in the middle stanza with nothing significant. Even a couple of late power plays didn’t generate much with the No.1 ranked PK keeping the Capitals guessing. Blair Betts, Freddy Sjostrom, Dubinsky and Callahan were splendid. So too were much maligned Wade Redden along with Michal Rozsival, who each had a second strong game. Marc Staal and Dan Girardi were also better. Paul Mara and Derek Morris played well.

Led by the blueline, the Rangers again sacrificed their bodies getting in the path of 29 Cap shots including four from a strong Girardi, Morris and Betts. Three also came from a less than 100 percent captain Chris Drury, who returned with whatever was bothering him. He only took two draws but played a gutty 22 shifts (15:25) showing the kind of leadership necessary to advance at this crucial time of year.

Predictably, the Capitals were better in the third period testing Lundqvist often. But the Rangers did a solid job allowing him to see the puck. Whatever he saw, he stopped. That included his biggest of the game on Backstrom with under four minutes left when he got a step on Redden getting a good shot off in the slot. But Lundqvist as he often does got a mask on it.

The Caps’ best opportunity came when Backstrom got a stick on Staal as he was making an outlet pass from behind his own net. The turnover almost proved costly as it came right to Alexander Semin who quickly centered for an open Ovechkin, whose shot nicked Lundqvist’s best friend, the crossbar leaving the 2007-08 Hart winner to shake his head in disbelief.

Desperate, Washington pulled Varlamov for an extra attacker with a minute to go. But it was a determined group of Rangers who wouldn’t allow them to get the kind of quality chance it would take to beat Lundqvist. Rozsival made a key defensive play breaking up a rush and Nik Antropov, who was stellar defensively cleared the zone as time wound down- allowing the Rangers to congratulate Lundqvist, who recorded his third career postseason shutout.

Three Stars:

3rd Star-Markus Naslund, NYR (assist, 2 hits, 2 takeaways, +1 in 15:32)

2nd Star-Ryan Callahan, NYR (GW goal 7:44 of 1st, 3 SOG, 2 hits, 2 blocked shots, 2 takeaways, +1 in 20:41)

1st Star-Henrik Lundqvist, NYR (35 saves incl. 16 in 3rd, 3rd career playoff SHO)

Notes: After getting 13 of his 28 shots on goal in Game One, Ovechkin was held to just six SOG in 22:50 finishing minus-one. In an oddity, he and Green combined for 12 giveaways- half of the Caps’ glaring 24. By comparison, the Rangers had only seven all game. … Rangers showed improvement in the faceoff circle going 28-for-60 with Gomez (11-9) their best. Betts went 9-11 and Dubinsky was 6-7. For Washington, Backstrom went a dominant 13-6 and David Steckel was 4-1. … The Blueshirts held a slight edge in hits 23-20 with Dubinsky and Sean Avery (4) leading the charge while Ovechkin’s five paced everyone. … The Rangers’ 29 blocks were 16 better than the Caps, who countered with four players posting two. … Aaron Voros was a healthy scratch and Donald Brashear again satout for the Caps. Bruce Boudreau made one other change dressing D Brian Pothier for Jeff Schultz (upper body).

… Game Three is Monday at 7 ET at The Garden and can be seen on MSG locally. Versus and TSN are also covering it. … There are three other games later including Game Two between the top seeded Bruins and No.8 Canadiens going off at 8 on Versus. The B’s lead the series 1-0. Out West, defending champ Detroit looks to make it two for two against Columbus less than an hour from now on NHL Network/TSN. The Blackhawks will aim for two straight at 9 ET against the Flames.