“It wasn’t like I asked to go.  I loved my time here,” Gomez said, before the two goals apiece by Ryan Callahan and Brandon Dubinsky lifted the Rangers to a much-needed 6-2 victory at Madison Square Garden last night.

“Having some familiarity with Brian [Gionta, who played with Gomez in New Jersey] and myself [the last two seasons in New York] has made his transition a little easier,” added Paul Mara, the bearded defenseman who moved on to Montreal after New York did not tender a free agent contract.

“Scotty has an infectious personality that everyone around him can enjoy.”

Except the Garden fans, who booed Gomez whenever he touched the puck.  Apparently, they did not feel he was worthy of the $51.5 million, seven-year contract he signed on July 1, 2007.

Gomez, a playmaking center, had 58 points and a -2 rating in 77 games last season; it was his first negative campaign since 2001-02.  Just one day before his second anniversary with the Rangers, he was jettisoned to Montreal, largely for Christopher Higgins.  The money New York saved was ultimately used to sway free agent Marian Gaborik.

On this evening, Gomez and his mates, currently on the fringe of the Eastern Conference playoff race, encountered a Ranger squad that had tallied exactly one goal in its last three games.

Following consecutive shutout losses on Garden ice, New York dropped a 4-1 decision last night in St. Louis.  Its lone scoring play featured Brian Boyle’s fourth goal and Aaron Voros’ second assist, which spoke volumes about the lack of overall scoring.  That was all the Rangers had mustered over the last 172 minutes, of game time, or nearly three hours of real time since winning 3-1 in Boston on January 9.

Until tonight, when Callahan opened his career-best four-point game by tipping Marian Gaborik’s goalmouth pass behind Jaroslav Halak just 57 seconds into the second period.   By the end of the stanza, Dubinsky had added two goals, including the Rangers’ fifth shorthanded tally of the season.

Gomez, whose personal four-game point streak was snapped, admitted to not “keeping tabs” on the Rangers’ helter-skelter season, instead looking to focus on what is required for the Canadiens to finish among the top eight teams in the Eastern Conference.

“It just means every game is a playoff game. But, we’re just starting to get healthy, so we’ll take it from there.”

Coincidentally, there is exactly where his former team is also looking to finish.

[ John J. Buro is the author of “Open Court: A Year With the New York Knicks”, which is now available through www.opencourtbook.com. ]

There’s just something special when two greats match up for an epic battle. And 18,200 fans saw two titans in Marty Brodeur and Henrik Lundqvist face off.

“[Henrik] played phenomenal,” said forward Brandon Dubinsky. “He gave us a chance to win. Obviously Marty is a great goalie and played well, but we have to just stay on it. We played a good game tonight against a good team.”

Actually, according to coach John Tortorella, the Rangers played really well. With 51 shots on Brodeur, the Blueshirts may have played their best overall game and to quote a Jim Dolan phrase of a few years ago, did everything asked of them except win.

Lundqvist stopped 45 on his own end, yet Patrik Elias was able to beat the Ranger met minder in the fourth round of the shootout to give the Devils the 1-0 win.

“I’m glad I was involved, because I thought it was a hell of a game to watch,” Tortorella said. “As a coach you are right behind the bench. I thought it was a really good game – chances for both teams. We kill off a 5-on-3 for almost two minutes. I have no complaints on how we played. It is frustrating when you come away with one point there.”

The Rangers averted disaster on that 5-on-3, 12:04 into the second. Both Erik Christenson and Dubinsky went to the box for different infractions, giving the Devils a major scoring chance. Yet, the penalty kill came through tremendously by limiting the Devils chances and outing the puck twice during the two minutes.

“We have a philosophy with it,” Tortorella said. “The only tape we show if the other team’s defense is their special teams or when they had a 5-on-3 recently. There’s a philosophy to it but what it comes down to is, eventually, you will have to block shots. They are going to change their look. I thought our guys did a great job.”

Yet all of this was not enough against Brodeur, who got his 107^th shutout and stopped a career high in shots. Even with almost perfect play, the future Hall of Famer just was too much for the Blueshirts, and Lundqvist was forced to raise his game.

“I knew after the first period that it was going to be a tight game and I can’t afford any mistakes,” Lundqvist said. “I think we played really well in our own end. We didn’t create that many scoring chances. We put a lot of pucks on the net and tried to come up with opportunities from rebounds. They are very solid. They controlled the middle in their own zone very well and made it tough for us to get in there and get any scoring chances.”

Yet, don’t fret because the Rangers did get the one point from this match and won 9 out of 13 games, putting them sixth in the conference. With Ottawa coming in on Thursday, the Rangers have a chance to continue their strong ways.

Notes: Vinny Prospal returned after a seven game absence, due to a knee injury, Tortorella said he “played well”… The Rangers have scored points in the last 12 out of 12 games…the 51 shots on goals were the most by the Rangers since they tossed 51 against the Islanders on Apr. 4, 2008….The last time the Rangers and Devils finished a game scoreless in regulation was Dec 9, 2007.

Whatever it is, though, this is a different man than the one who lashed into his team last week for lack of hustle against the New York Islanders.

“I didn’t say too much to the team about it,” the coach said. “They are professional athletes and they know what went on here prior. We haven’t won consistently here. You want to win on the road, but you are not going to get anywhere if you don’t establish yourself at home.”

And tonight the Rangers finally won at home with a very good 4-1 win over the Florida Panthers.

“I am thinking I am playing really well, but the guys in front of me are playing really, really well,” said goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, who had 33 saves. “They are really making a difference.”

Actually what worked was the fear of Torts. After lashing out at his team last week and then benching Ales Kotalik and Wade Redden for two games, the Rangers responded with impressive wins on the Island, Philadelphia, and in Carolina. They are hustling, playing strong off the puck, and taking chance.

More importantly, they are winning games they would have lost two weeks ago.

“I think it comes from being embarrassed from that night against the Islanders,” said Vinny Prospal, who scored two goals in tonight’s match. “We had a team meeting and there were things that were said, that needs to be changed or there may be changes in the locker room.

“We have been playing more disciplined hockey and we have been scoring a little more.”

Now, the benchings and rippings are classic Tortorella tactics. Prospal knows that, as he has seen it in Tampa when “The Paper Italian” ran that club.

“I have seen it a few years ago in some other players,” Prospal said. “Torts, you always know him very well. He always tells the players to step up and play better. It’s all business and he doesn’t mean it in a personal way. It’s all hockey to him.”

And since last Wednesday, the Rangers have been playing nothing but sharp, crisp, games with many of the players stepping up in key spots.

Chris Drury has three goals in the last four – including the game tier in the first period – after Tortorella moved him down in the lineup. The coach said he feels the pressure is off his captain, which allows No. 23 to play “within himself.”

And Kotalik seems to be playing sharper hockey after getting two games rest. Yet, that’s the response Tortorella wanted from his players when he challenged them last week.

“I think we get strong play, strong goaltending, and big goals at key times,” said Marian Gaborik, who scored a beauty breakaway from a sharp angle in the third period off Tomas Vokoun for his lead leading 26^th goal of the season. “I think we’re playing defensively better and we come away with a key offensive or defensive play at key times.”

And that’s what Tortorella was looking for. Look, the Rangers will not be this good every night and there will be some stink bombs out there, but there’s still time for the team to turn the season around. If the Blueshirts can continue with the effort, then they should be fine going into 2010.

And Tortorella should keep his happy disposition up.

Dwayne Roloson was pulled after the fifth goal. The Panthers torched the Islanders goalie for those five goals on just 23 shots. The Isles have now lost four of its last five but Roloson attributed the blowout to the looming home-and-home series against the Rangers starting Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden.

“To be completely honest I just think we were a team that forgot we were playing tonight and looking forward to the Rangers games,” Roloson said. “Just from the beginning of the game to the end, it was just one of those games.”

It was also a game where the stats didn’t tell the story. The clubs each turned the puck over 11 times, though the Panthers capitalized on the mistakes. Florida twice took the puck away from defensemen to initiate one-on-one chances against Roloson, who fell to 10-5-5.

The Islanders and Rangers entered Tuesday locked in a three-way tie for third in the five-team Atlantic Division with 31 points. The Rangers have struggled recently as well, going 3-5-2 in its last 10 games.

Roloson said his team needed to rebuild quickly after Florida bombarded the Islanders into giving up a season-high in goals. Tonight’s game marks the first of three games in 10 days against the local rival. John Tavares scored the key insurance goal in the Islanders 3-1 win against the Rangers at home Oct. 28 in the first meeting.

“It’s on each individual in this locker room to respond,” Roloson said. “We have to be embarrassed but confident that we’re going to go out and play a good hockey game Wednesday night.”

Don’t just take a the word of a humble reporter, listen to The King.

“This one hurts,” said “The King” Henrik Lundqvist. “The way we played in the third, we deserved at least a tie game, if not a win. I just couldn’t come up with a big save at the end. It’s a little frustrating. It’s just a tough one to lose.”

The team skated hard in this one but just couldn’t get the secondary scoring. Even with two goals from Marian Gaborik, the Rangers ended up on the losing end of a 4-2 stick to the Washington Capitals.

“I thought, for most of the game there, we played,” said coach John Tortorella.  “Obviously our biggest weakness is that we are not getting any secondary scoring.  We played in surges at times.  We held them to 11, 12 scoring chances.  We just aren’t creating enough with our secondary scoring.”

That’s the problem with the Rangers these days. Outside of Gaborik, there’s no other goals coming from the club and with a good team like Capitals, that’s just not enough. With two of Rangers top centers (Chris Drury and Brandon Dubinsky) on the shelf, others need to step up for the Rangers for them to be successful.

“I think a lot of things stem from getting the puck in their zone,” said defenseman Wade Redden, who was beaten on Washington’s winning goal by Matt Bradley. “It starts from our end, where we get good passes, chip it in and forecheck.  It is not just shots, it is creating momentum. I think we just have to rely on the simple little plays to create chances for ourselves.”

Fighting for pucks and driving to the net is one of the biggest sins for these Rangers. Outside of when No. 10 is on the ice, the team plays back and conservative, which is not good for successful hockey, especially when you are not playing a defensive system.

Yet on the bright side, there is Gaborik, who now has 15 goals on the season and is showing the Garden Faithful why he is the best goal scorer since Jaromir Jagr took the league by storm after the lockout.

“He gets the puck and makes things happen,” Redden said. “That’s a big part of our offense. Our power play has been clicking pretty good. He finds the spots on the ice and makes things happen. He is big for us.”

Garborik scored in the 1:16 into the game and then beat Semyon Varlamov 8:26 into the third on the power play to tie the match. Yet, the firepower of the Capitals behind Alex Ovechkin, proved too much.

“We’ve got to capitalize and try and score on those hardworking, grinding plays,” Gaborik said. “We just have to cut down on taking penalties and go from there. We didn’t generate a lot of shots, that was a problem there. We came back in the third, we had some good chances down low and we need to keep the puck down low more often.”

“You have to be positive and you have to think you’ll turn this around,” Lundqvist said. “We had a big win the other night and we just need to have a couple in a row and get going. Now we’re back to square one again. We have a couple of days off between games and we have to make sure we’re ready for the next one.”

Ilya Kovalchuk, as usual, was the story. The Russian star, out since Oct. 24 when the Thrashers captain broke his right foot when struck by a puck, had a goal and two assists in leading his team. Kovalchuk had missed seven games in a row until tonight, but it looked like he hadn’t missed any time at all. He and his linemates had a big night. The victory was sealed when he and former Rangers forward Nik Antropov set up Maxim Afinogenov’s empty-netter in the closing seconds.

“Our line was clicking real well,” he said. “We all speak Russian, so it’s kind of cheating because they can’t understand what we’re saying.”

Kovalchuk also helped set up Rich Peverley’s power-play goal in the second period and then put Atlanta back in front after the Rangers tied it a second time.

Thrashers rookie Evander Kane, questionable because of a foot injury, chipped in with a goal and assist. Johan Hedberg stopped 33 shots while playing in his third straight for Atlanta, which won for the fourth time in six games. Colby Armstrong also scored.

Atlanta was 3-3 without Kovalchuk.

“It is pretty surprising to see a guy come back like that after being off for about three weeks,” Armstrong said. “To come back and be as smooth and as solid as he was is pretty incredible. The guy is a natural. He’s our leader, and he played well for us.”

Despite outshooting the Thrashers decisively (36-27), including an 18-5 advantage in the third period, the Rangers lost this game because they couldn’t seem to stay out of the penalty box and they couldn’t stop the Thrashers when they were a man short. Atlanta scored on two of five power plays, tonight.

The Rangers went into this game slumping and missing two of their most important players, Chris Drury and Brandon Dubinsky. Drury was out with a concussion and Dubinsky will be gone for several weeks more with a broken bone in his right hand he sustained blocking a Jay Bouwmeester shot early in the second period of the Rangers’ game against Calgary.

As a result, the thinnest position on the roster and in the organization has taken on a look of decided weakness. Vinny Prospal will shift back to center the first line. As of the moment, Artem Anisimov would be the second-line pivot. It looks like Brian Boyle will man the third-line center slot.

Ranger goalie, Henrik Lundquist returned from an eight day injury tonight and showed the quick reflexes and instincts he’s known for. He had to, as the Thrashers tested him throughout the first two periods.

“Of course I feel that I haven’t played in a while and to start the game giving up a goal right away was tough,” said Lundqvist. “The whole night was a big battle. They didn’t have that many shots but they got pretty big scoring chances. It was tough to play but I tried to stay in there and tried to play my game. I could feel some technical mistakes. I was happy with the way we played in the third.”

“We get a good start and they put it in the net,” Lundqvist added. “After that, we regrouped pretty well. It is tough to let in a goal like that right away, you get on your heels. We were 1-1 after the first. What killed us was five minutes of the second period. We played a great third period. The guys played really hard. We hit the post a couple of times. It was close, but it just wasn’t enough tonight.”

During the latter part of the second, the Rangers started to take the play to the Thrashers, peppering their goalie, Johann Hedberg with a variety of shots.

Marion Gabarik tied the game on a power play goal, his 13^th of the season, when he took a pass from Michael Del Zotto, and he one-timed it inside the post to beat Hedberg. Gabarik now has six power play goals, tied for the league lead.

Almost a minute later. Kolvochuk put the Thrashers ahead with a powerful wrister from the right circle at 17:41. His shot was one only a world class hockey player could have pulled off.

Just 25 seconds later, at 18:06 of the period, Evander Kane, the Thrashers 18-year old rookie, put the next goal behind Lundqvist to break open the game, 4-2.

Atlanta were dominating play at this stage. The Rangers looked like they were stationery as the Thrashers were coming at Lundqvist in waves and getting shots on goal that looked like the Rangers had no chance of stopping.

The familiar sound of boos in Madison Square Garden rained down on the Rangers as the period buzzer sounded. The Knicks now have nothing on the Rangers as far as fan disappointment is concerned.

Artem Anisimov and Marian Gaborik erased one-goal deficits for the Rangers, and Lundqvist, who missed two games made 22 saves. Brian Boyle brought New York within 4-3 when he slammed in a rebound of Ales Kotalik’s shot 6:18 into the third.

The Rangers couldn’t tie it again despite two power plays and an 18-5 shots advantage. Kotalik ripped a drive from the blue line that was deflected before hitting the goal post with 8:47 remaining.

“We are not getting the results right now,” forward Vinny Prospal said. “The third period really showed how effective we can be playing 5-on-5 … we just can’t seem to stay out of the box.”

For Rangers head coach John Tortorella, his charge was to get his young team to tighten up defensively in the third period. The Rangers, playing without Dubinsky and Drury were weary and thinned-out, personnel-wise.

“We were bad defensively, I thought we were slow,” said Tortorella. “The first shift of the game, it’s two on two, both skaters skate right by our defense. You come off our road trip, and everyone goes through it, you end up trying to find your game early on in the game. It is hard. I thought we prepared, I thought we traveled correctly coming back from the West, I thought we practiced correctly. But, we were slow through the first half of the game.”

“As far as lineup changes, I am not sure what we are going to do. It is hard. The other games are spread out. Am I interested in playing guys 27, 28 minutes a game. No, I don’t think that’s a great situation. I am hoping other guys step up so they get the minutes. We will talk about it tomorrow and see where we go with it.”

“Obviously, Brandon and Drury are big players for our PK (penalty kills),” said Ryan Callahan. “Some of our guys stepped up and did a good job on the PK but we have to stay out of the penalty box.”

At 6:18 of the third, Brian Boyle, the Rangers 6’7” 250 pound center rebounded a slap shot from Alex Kotalik into the net behind Hedberg to bring the Rangers within one, 4-3. It was his second goal of the season.

A day after the Long Island Press reported Charles Wang is pulling out of the Lighthouse Project, Wang issued a statement denying the report.

“Yesterday’s report on the Lighthouse project which appeared in the Long Island Press is untrue,” Wang’s statement said. “There are no plans to abandon this project which is so vital to the future of Nassau County and Long Island as a whole.

“As far as the status of the Lighthouse project, we have submitted to The Town of Hempstead and Supervisor Kate Murray all the studies and required documents. A lease has been negotiated. Supervisor Murray and the Town Board need to make a decision on the zoning.

“Long Island stands in this defining moment waiting for an answer. Yes or no.

“Moving forward, we will not discuss any meetings in the media. Any reports of meetings should be considered untrue.

“My heart is still on Long Island. I love Long Island. This is where the Islanders belong. Let’s play hockey.”

If it was just that simple. Wang may deny it and the Long Island Press is standing by its story, so we don’t know what’s true.

Yet, the fact of the matter is that Wang doesn’t need to Lighthouse Project to make the Islanders a profitable Long Island entity. Yet, Wang and his partners have made this out to be Lighthouse or bust and if it is bust, he will take his puck and move it elsewhere.

Over the past three years, three new sports facilities have been opened in the New York area with two more on their way. None of these were built with the teams being held hostage and for the most part the new stadiums and arenas have been successful and definite upgrades over their predecessors. They were built the right way, which is why they are here now.

But when you want to make the team part of a larger project, then you will get opposition. The West Side Stadium comes to mind, as does the Atlantic Yards project, which is on its way of getting shot down in court.

Wang is in the same boat. Sure he’s got the fan support, who just don’t want to see the Islanders move. And he’s got a good villain in Kate Murray, because no one like politicians. But take a closer a look at the project and it will be clear the Lighthouse project is another money grab by rich men wanting to richer.

Where the Coliseum lies right now, there’s no Long Island Rail Road service near the area and the roads generally get really congested during the week. Do Long Islanders really want the Southern State to become more and more crowded, especially with those office buildings going up? How about building a train station? Well that would mean public money going into the project and do the commuters really want to have fares raised just so Wang can get his Lighthouse serviced?

Then there’s the shopping center. Would it really work with Roosevelt Field just a mile up the road? And how about the residential housing? Why the wealthy want to move next to a college, which is next to a bad area, rather than finding a nice place on the North Shore?

If Wang had the Islanders best interests at heart, he would have renovated the Coliseum already, since that’s already been approved. At the same time, he would have worked with the NHL, the town, and county to get concessions on the SMG contract, which is the real reason why the Islanders lose money. If a renovated arena and a favorable management deal is not enough to make the Isles profitable, then Long Island doesn’t deserve its hockey team.

Yet, it probably is. Wang has fooled everyone into believing this center is the miracle cure for the team. Build it and the Stanley Cup will come. As we have seen, smart decisions are the way to go when building a winner, not an Islanders Disneyland, that would miraculously transform the team. Yes, the Coliseum need a major renovation, no one is doubting that, but the large office building, housing and shopping center is just Wang’s way of rewarding himself by lining his pockets.

Sure Wang is a businessman and he is entitled to make money with the Islanders, but his white elephant is not it and by holding the team hostage proves that the Lighthouse is just a cash grab rather than something that will benefit the Islanders and Long Island.

Long after the final buzzer ended, there was a zombie-like haze amongst the players and the coaches.

How could everything change in one minute and twenty seconds? How could home-ice advantage and a raucous crowd just melt away in 80 ticks of a clock?  How did the Carolina Hurricanes win game seven?

“It was right there,” Colin White said. “We were that close.”

Eric Staal gained a burst of speed out of the neutral zone and fired a shot that slipped between Martin Brodeur’s right arm and leg pad, the “seven hole” as he described it, into the net for the series winning goal with less than 30 seconds on the clock.

“I was in good position,” Brodeur said. “But he made a better shot and beat me.”

Head coach Brent Sutter felt the play broke down before the puck got anywhere near Brodeur.

“They were able to come through the neutral-zone with speed, which is something we were able to contain all night,” Sutter said.

Moments earlier, Jussi Jokenin, the hero of game four’s last second goal, tied the game with a shot from the right side of the net underneath Brodeur while he slid to the post.

“We got caught out there not able to get the puck out of the zone,” captain Jamie Langenbrunner said. “We got caught running around out there at the end.”

The Prudential Center crowd was silent, as if watching in slow motion an unreal nightmare playing out in front of them.

New Jersey never gives up a lead after being ahead going into the third period. The only time it happened in the regular season was at home, against the Hurricanes.

The Devils had dominated the game, controlling the puck with big hits and smart passing. Brian Rolston converted on the power play, scoring what was thought to be the game winning goal at 8:47 of the second period.

Carolina overloaded the right side of the ice, following Brian Gionta carrying the puck into the offensive zone. Gionta made a cross-ice pass to Rolston, who skated into the zone untouched and rifled a one-timer into the top left corner of the net.

At the other end of the special-teams spectrum, the Devils killed off all five penalties called against them, including a lengthy 5-on-3 opportunity in the second period.

All was going to plan for New Jersey, until the final 80 seconds of the game. With the team scrambling to cover assignments and willing to play overtime after Jokinen’s goal, the Devils played not to lose, while the Hurricanes played to win.

“We were on our heels too much the last few minutes trying to protect the lead,” Sutter said.

Winning a playoff series is not only about playing quality sixty-minutes, but also being lucky and taking advantage when luck comes your way.

“When we’ve won Cups, when we’ve gone pretty far into the playoffs, we’ve gotten some bounces,” John Madden said. “Things turned in our favor very quickly too. Shorthanded goals late in a period, bounces that come off the glass right in front of the net, different things, goalies mishandling a puck. We didn’t get anything. Everything we got, we earned.”

It seemed no one had learned from Jokinen’s goal with .02 seconds remaining in game four that the ‘Canes would attack for all 60 minutes of the game. They were not willing to take the last moments of regulation off and prepare for overtime, as there was still time in the third period to win it.

That attitude ended up being the difference between Carolina booking travel plans to Boston and the Devils booking tee times.

“This is as tough of a loss as you could possibly have,” Sutter said.

After commanding the Washington Capitals in their series, 3-1, just five days ago, the Rangers now go home early after Sergei Fedorov scored late in the third to give the Caps a 2-1 win in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals.

“[Fedorov] came down the wing and beat me with a good shot,” said Rangers netminder Henrik Lundqvist, who rebounded from two awful games . “It’s tough when you’re that close. I think we were trying harder than they were for the first two periods.”

Actually the whole team rebounded and played a very spirited first two periods. The Rangers had their chances against Simeon Varlamov, especially in the beginning of the game, but could only muster one goal.

That came at 5:35 of the first after Sean Avery, who played extremely well, fought for the puck in the corner and managed a off-angle pass to Nik Antropov, who fed it out to Brandon Dubinsky. Varlamov was able to poke check the shot, but Antropov came in and knocked it home.

That was it for the Ranger offense, which controlled the puck throughout the game, but gave in during the third when Washington pushed the Blueshirts to the edge.

“For most of the game I thought we did a really job in keeping the puck, but we couldn’t develop enough scoring chances,” he said. “In the third period, they turned it up a notch, we ended up backing up a bit, but it was still a game to be had. It was who makes the next big play. They did, we didn’t.”

And didn’t get the scoring chances they needed, thanks to Varlamov, and despite outshooting the Capitals 8-2 in the first, the Rangers went into the dressing room tied at 1, thanks to a Alexander Semin goal at 15:34, which was deflected by Ryan Callahan and Dan Girardi, changing the direction on Lundqvist.

Even with the goals, Lundqvist played great, making some spectacular saves, like one Vikor Kozlov early in the second, and he survived the onslaught on shots in the third, until Fedorov was able to nail it shut at with 4:59 left.

“I didn’t think too much about it,” said Fedorov to reporters. “Just entering the zone I wanted to make sure the puck went deep. The D gave me some room, so I stopped and chose to shoot. I knew the D was giving me short side. Henrik went down and I shot it top shelf short side. It’s pretty standard for what we practice.

“It was a big deal for us because we really wanted to win and not experience last year.”

Now the Rangers go searching for answers in the offseason. Players like Antropov, Derek Morris, and Paul Mara probably have played their last games for the Blueshirts, and the team will also make some other changes as Tortorella will revamp the club in his image for the 2009-10 season.

Notes: This is the first time the Rangers blew a 3-1 lead. They were 11-0 before this series….They are still winless in Game 7s on the road, now 0-5….With the Devils losing, the Capitals now get the dream matchup of the Pittsburgh Penguins, while the Bruins will play the Hurricanes.

The Sharks exercised their game plan from the outset Saturday night, charging the Wolf Pack net as Zaba dodged and ducked and teammates came to his rescue.

The Wolf Pack retaliated in the best way possible, scoring three times on eight shots in the opening 12:01, then survived a three-goal Worcester second period to win 5-3 as Mike Ouellette and Mark Bell scored in the third for a 2-0 lead in the Atlantic Division semifinals.

Zaba had another stellar game, stopping 44 shots before 2,703 at the XL Center, making him 82-for-85 in his first two AHL playoff starts. He was especially sharp in the first two periods, when the Wolf Pack were outshot 41-13, and while helping kill 12 of 13 Sharks power plays.

Ouellette got the winner 2:23 into the third when he took a pass from Dane Byers and fired a backhander that went through the legs of Thomas Greiss.

“It was a no-look shot,” Ouellette said with a smile. “Byers has been out for a while (the last 71 games of the regular season), but his hockey sense hasn’t tapered off in any way, and he’s one of the easiest guys I’ve ever had to play with.

“I had my back to the net and he just put the puck on my stick, I spun and put it on net. I didn’t even look. It just found a way in.  It was a chippy game, and it’s going to be a long, chippy series. I think they were getting desperate and searching for any way to get us off our game, and it worked (in the second period). But then we refocused and found our bearings. Thankfully Zaba is a rock back there, and we’ve been leaning on him for a long time. He’s the best player on the team right now.”

The Wolf Pack won the first two games for the first time in seven series since they swept the Worcester IceCats in the 2004 Atlantic Division semifinals. But they realized they had to improve if they are to make it three in a row in Game 3, which is at 6:35 p.m. Monday at the DCU Center in Worcester.

“We got the lead and then did some things that aren’t scripted, ad-libbing a bit,” Wolf Pack coach Ken Gernander said. “That puts more pressure on guys taking penalties and more pressure on your goaltender. But you have to realize you have to play puck possession and get it deep in their defensive zone, which is something we didn’t do a very good job of recognizing.

“Why would you start to run-and-gun and get more high risk and detract from what had got you the lead?  We overburdened some guys with the amount of penalty killing they had to do.”

The Wolf Pack got plenty of help early, as Artem Anisimov scored on a wraparound at 3:40 after stealing the puck from Sharks defenseman Kyle McLaren. Then during a 4-on-4, Jordan Owens made a spinning move out of the right corner and took a shot that Sharks defenseman Jason Demers deflected past Thomas Greiss at 7:08.

Demers was victimized again at 12:01, as Bobby Sanguinetti took a drop pass from Greg Moore and fired a shot from the top of the left circle that ricocheted off the Sharks defenseman and past Greiss, who shook his head in disbelief.

The Wolf Pack had a 3-0 lead but wouldn’t get another shot in the period, while Zaba was stopping all 22 that he faced as referee Francois St. Laurent’s whistle caused the teams to play 5-on-5 for only 4:22 and only 1:09 after the Sharks’ Ryan Vesce got the game’s first penalty.

The only downer for the Wolf Pack in the first period was losing Corey Potter, their defenseman of the year, who was given a 5-minute major and game misconduct for slashing Dan DaSilva, who had just run over Zaba.

“I didn’t think (Potter’s) penalty was necessarily deserved because I thought there was too much contact on our goalie early on,” Gernander said. “Potter’s intention was just to get between our goalie and their player. Losing him was tough, but the rest of the defense stepped up and we got the win.”

The Sharks continued their shot barrage early in the second period and finally broke through when Brendan Buckley’s knuckling shot from the right point took a crazy bounce past Zaba at 9:51.

Just 1:29 later, the Sharks got to 3-2 as Andrew Desjardins took a pass from Frazer McLaren and banked in a shot off Zaba from behind the goal line.

And the Sharks got even at 14:57 on another fluke goal as Riley Armstrong’s shot from the right point was stopped by Zaba, bounded in the air and went in off Wolf Pack defenseman Brian Fahey.

But Ouellette got the tie-breaker early in the third and then the teams jousted for whatever ice they could get before Bell scored shorthanded into an empty net with 4.6 seconds left.

“We got the start we wanted, but we had a rough second period with a lot of penalties, so it was a great lesson learned,” Owens said. “We have to protect a three-goal lead. It’s playoff hockey, and we can’t let them back in the game. We have to stick to the game plan and finish them off.”

SUMMARY

Worcester       0      3     0  –   3

Hartford          3      0     2  –   5

1st Period-1, Hartford, Anisimov 2   3:40 (pp). 2, Hartford, Owens 1   7:08. 3, Hartford, Sanguinetti 1 (Moore), 12:01. Penalties-Vesce Wor (interference), 3:13; McLaren Wor (misconduct – unsportsmanlike conduct), 3:40; Armstrong Wor (boarding), 5:18; Fahey Hfd (interference), 6:31; Sauer Hfd (holding the stick), 7:52; Armstrong Wor (slashing, roughing), 9:27; Potter Hfd (roughing), 9:27; Sanguinetti Hfd (tripping), 9:52; Rissmiller Hfd (hooking), 12:46; DaSilva Wor (roughing), 14:54; Potter Hfd (major – slashing, game misconduct – slashing), 14:54; Couture Wor (major – charging the goaltender), 15:58; Fahey Hfd (tripping), 19:06.
2nd Period-4, Worcester, Buckley 1   9:51. 5, Worcester, Desjardins 1 (McLaren), 10:20. 6, Worcester, Armstrong 1   14:40 (pp). Penalties-Crowder Hfd (hooking), 3:14; Vesce Wor (high-sticking), 3:51; DiDiomete Hfd (delay of game), 11:59; Nightingale Hfd (hooking), 13:37; served by Byers Hfd (bench minor – too many men), 15:42; Moore Wor (roughing), 19:31; DiDiomete Hfd (roughing), 19:31.

3rd Period-7, Hartford, Ouellette 1 (Byers, Owens), 2:23. 8, Hartford, Bell 1 (Sanguinetti), 19:55 (sh en). Penalties-Desjardins Wor (hooking), 3:29; served by Armstrong Wor (delay of game), 7:09; Bell Hfd (hooking), 11:04; Dupont Hfd (hooking), 14:52; Ouellette Hfd (slashing), 19:30.

Shots on Goal-Worcester 22-19-6-47. Hartford 8-5-6-19.
Power-play opportunities-Worcester 1 of 13; Hartford 1 of 7.
Goalies-Worcester, Greiss 0-2-0 (18 shots-14 saves). Hartford, Zaba 2-0-0 (47 shots-44 saves).
A-2,703
Referees-Francois St. Laurent (38).
Linesmen-Rich Patry (52), Luke Galvin (2).