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.

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.

The Devils used solid goaltending from Yann Danis and a surprise scoring output by David Clarkson to defeat the New York Rangers 3-2 in a shootout Wednesday night.

The pre-season opener featured Danis in net the whole game. With starting goaltender Martin Brodeur not suiting up for the game, initially Jeff Frazee was supposed to split ice time with Danis. But Lemaire changed the game plan after two shut-out periods by the free-agent acquisition.

“I thought he was doing well, and I hate to pull a goalie … when you’re having a good game,” explained Lemaire.

In all, Danis stopped 29 shots during regulation, one in overtime, and five of the six shots he faced during the shootout.

“Guys did a good job in front of me all night,” Danis said. “I saw the puck all night. I cleared a few rebounds here and there, but they definitely made my job easier.”

Travis Zajac solidified Danis’ first win as a Devil by firing top-shelf over Rangers’ goaltender Chad Johnson in the sixth shootout round.

“When I looked up, it looked like he was cheating a little to left,” Zajac explained. “He was giving me high blocker, so I just took a quick shot.”

The Prudential Center crowd rose to their feet after both teams scored a goal in the third round. Zach Parise made a double move in front of Johnson to the right, and then slipped in left to deposit the puck behind the goalie. This counteracted rookie Matt Gilroy’s five-hole goal against Danis.

“I felt good throughout,” Danis said. “I think I was reading their moves pretty well.”

The Atlantic-Division adversaries were pushed into extra time when the Rangers’ young-guns dissolved the Devils’ two-goal lead.

Three minutes into the third period, Gilroy netted his first goal of his professional career on a pass from Aaron Voros. Sean Avery, who made his presence known early with a goalie interference and unsportsmanlike conduct double-major in the first period, was credited with the secondary assist.

With less than nine minutes left in the period, Jordan Owens slipped the puck past Danis, assisted by rookie Michael Del Zotto.

The Devils took control of the game early. Clarkson, splayed out in front of the net, shoved the puck past the Rangers’ starting goaltender Henrik Lundqvist at 13:31 of the first period on the power play.

Clarkson added his second goal on the power-play half-way through the second period.

“The puck was going in for me, and I was feeling good on the ice, and it’s something that I’ve been working on all summer to get ready,” Clarkson said.

Lemaire praised Clarkson for his work ethic and attitude during training camp, which opened Saturday, and rewarded him with the assistant captaincy for Wednesday’s game.

“I liked what he did at camp,” Lemaire stated. “He works hard and tries to do what we want, and is positive.”

The designation was special for Clarkson.

“It’s an honor, to be someone that’s chosen as one of those guys he considers a leader,” Clarkson explained. “I used to be a junior captain in juniors and in the American League a little bit, but to get a chance to do it in the NHL, I never thought I’d be in this league, never mind wearing the “A” one day, so it was pretty special to me.”

Lemaire said he was impressed with his veterans, and liked some of what he saw from the younger players. He also commented on how the different training camp styles benefited the Devils against the Blueshirts, who lost to Boston, 2-1, Tuesday night.

“We practiced a little bit, but I heard they didn’t practice much at all,” Lemaire said.

With one pre-season game in the books, the newest chapter in Jacques Lemaire’s Devils history is starting to take shape.

Notes: Lemaire sent a shock through the media when he explained giving Brendan Shanahan the captain’s “C” for the game as “When your captains injured, you won’t give the ‘C’ to anyone because you don’t have any more leaders on the team?” He later confirmed Jamie Langenbrunner was not injured, just routinely sitting out the game… Shanahan took Langenbrunner’s spot on the top line with Zajac and Zach Parise, and sported the number 14 on his sweater … up-and-coming defenseman Cory Murphy played well, but Lemaire said if he’s going to play in the NHL, he’ll have to score points … Free-agent acquisition Ilkka Pikkarainen also garnered praise for his work on the ice and in camp… the Devils out-shot the Rangers 4-1 in overtime, but could not convert, even with two minutes of 4-on-3 when Del Zotto was called for tripping… Next game: Wednesday, Sept. 23, at Nassau Coliseum against the Islanders.

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 Rangers will get another opportunity to wrap up the series Sunday afternoon at more friendly Madison Square Garden. It’s advisable that they get it done or face the consequences. Forget the history books that say Washington has never rallied back from an 0-2 deficit or that the Rangers have never blown a series when leading 3-1. That means nothing.

Anyone who’s followed this series knows how much more talented the higher seeded Caps are. The Rangers are still in a winning position because they showed a willingness to get the jersey dirty and Henrik Lundqvist was there for the big saves. Tonight, neither was the case as they got outworked by a determined Washington squad Hell bent on coming back. If Lundqvist was the series’ best player the first four games, tonight it wasn’t to be as he let in four goals on only 14 shots before Steve Valiquette relieved him in garbage time.

On a night John Tortorella gave Sean Avery a game off to think about his selfish penalties, the Rangers on the ice weren’t disciplined enough to give themselves a chance taking two of the game’s first three penalties before the contest was 10 minutes old. That included a retaliatory slash by MIA center Scott Gomez following a clean Alex Ovechkin hit just 76 seconds in setting the tone.

Sure. The Ranger penalty killing unit again blanked the Cap power play keeping them off the scoreboard in seven chances including a ridiculous too many men on the ice bench minor. Ridiculous because at this critical juncture, it shouldn’t be happening.

In between that, fourth liner Matt Bradley victimized the Ranger powerless play scoring the game’s first goal shorthanded 4:58 into the game. Michal Rozsival couldn’t control Boyd Gordon’s hard wheel around falling down to create the problem. Bradley then outhustled Chris Drury, who covered for Wade Redden. Unfortunately, the banged up captain did a poor job allowing Bradley to beat him to the puck and then go in for a breakaway beating Lundqvist with a quick backhand upstairs.

During the regular season, the Rangers were the second worst team at allowing shorthanded goals giving up a preposterous 14 all under Tom Renney before Tortorella took over. It reared its ugly head again at the worst possible time giving the Caps much needed momentum because they weren’t all that impressive in the first getting just six shots on net. Unfortunately, two went in when following an Aaron Voros chance, Bradley somehow beat Lundqvist thru the wickets from a bad angle. Much like Ryan Callahan’s post and Alex Semin’s goal in Game Three, it was a crusher.

If the Blueshirts only got three shots on Simeon Varlamov, who posted his second shutout of the series stopping all 20 he faced, they at least had a couple of opportunities to get on the board. One was the aforementioned Voros, whose shot from 18 feet out Varlamov got a piece of before Bradley came down and scored his second. The other chance came when Brandon Dubinsky got a drop pass from effective linemate Lauri Korpikoski and had the 20 year-old Russian down without a stick. But as he went to tuck the puck in, Varlamov somehow got a shoulder on it keeping it out.

Sadly, that was the extent of the Ranger offense which was plain offensive. Bruce Boudreau must’ve told his club that they were fortunate to be up two because they played much better the rest of the game. Standing up at the blueline forcing the Rangers into bad turnovers, the Caps used their superior speed and skill to attack when they could. Though the shots were held down, the No.2 seed was much better and got rewarded scoring twice more.

Game Three hero Alex Semin scored his series-leading fourth off a faceoff when the puck went off Blair Betts knee right to him. He quickly wired it top shelf past a stunned Lundqvist, who had little chance. They somehow credited Nicklas Backstrom with an assist. He did take the draw following a Ranger icing but didn’t win it and never touched the puck. Go figure. That’s the kinda night it was.

Down three, the Rangers spent the rest of the second chasing the puck. They somehow managed seven shots- one less than the Caps- but none were dangerous. Varlamov may as well have been out for a walk on the beach. Speaking of which, it will be beach weather this weekend.

Unable to threaten the Capitals, the Rangers eventually caved in allowing Ovechkin to score the goal of the playoffs late in the period. Following the invisible man Nikolai Zherdev’s latest turnover after a takedown, here came Ovechkin lifting Wade Redden’s stick before undressing Derek Morris and Voros going to the backhand for an amazing goal. That made it 4-0 with 29 seconds left. This was just a special goal by a special player. It was fitting that it was Ovie because he’s tried so hard this series and had only beaten Lundqvist once despite all the shots.

That ended Lundqvist’s night as Tortorella opted to rest him in preparation for Sunday. A wise move. No sense in letting him get peppered. Keeping him fresh is important and he didn’t see a ton of shots as opposed to how most of this series has gone.

Valiquette was sharp in relief turning aside all seven Washington shots. Between that, the Rangers sat out Drury in the third and took a few message sending penalties including a Dubinsky charge and a Colton Orr double minor for holding and roughing up Semin. Refs Mike Hasenfratz and Don VanMassenhoven did the appropriate thing with 5:46 left giving misconducts to Orr and Voros ending their nights.

Earlier in the stanza, they also kept Donald Brashear under control when he decided he wanted to pick on the smaller Dubinsky, who of course wouldn’t back down. The two each went to the box for roughing but the Capital enforcer got the extra 10.

Credit the refs for doing a good job. They kept things from escalating. That also included a disturbing drunken Cap fan who decided to toss a beer at Tortorella during a late stoppage. Just pathetic. Tort was upset and looked for the fan, who got ejected. Good thing Washington security responded quickly. Something like that should never happen. I don’t know why it did. I’m just glad things were handled well.

Now onto Game Six, which becomes a must win if the Rangers want to advance. We’ll see what they’re made of.

Notes: Scott Gomez had another miserable game held off the scoresheet a fourth straight game with four perimeter shots and went minus-one while dropping 10 of 15 faceoffs in 19:46. … Zherdev was again brutal on the ice for two goals against with just two SOG in 15:23. … Drury took only 13 shifts (7:21) finishing a dismal minus-three while going 4-4 on draws. … Showing plenty of desperation, the Caps blocked 21 shots including four from D Brian Pothier. The Rangers had 11 with Dan Girardi leading the way with three. He and partner Marc Staal played very well each going Even combining for eight hits in 23+ minutes apiece.

… Hits were 35-30 Blueshirts in one of the few categories they came out on top of with Girardi’s five pacing them. Ovechkin and David Steckel each had five. … Washington was stronger in the faceoff circle winning 28-of-49 with Steckel 8-3 and Backstrom 8-5. Dubinsky was the Rangers’ best finishing 7-of-11. … In place of the scratched Avery, Voros played 16 shifts (10:56) including a couple on the powerless play. He had one shot, two hits and was minus-two with 12 PIM. … Game Six is at The Garden with faceoff set for 2:05 Sunday afternoon on NBC.

There was no rescuing the club from themselves, resulting in a season-high fifth straight loss, a 3-0 shutout by Henrik Lundqvist and the Rangers.

“There was no offense because there is no urgency. You’ve got to pay a price to score goals and we don’t want to do that right now. We aren’t playing like we need to play at this time of the season, bottom line,” Devils coach Brent Sutter explained.

New York put 20 shots on goal in the first period, but it took until 4:35 into the second period for the Rangers to get one past Devils’ goaltender Martin Brodeur.

Brandon Dubinsky grabbed a rebound on Brodeur’s right side and faked Brodeur to the ice. Dubinsky had a wide open net and put the puck right over Brodeur. Dan Girardi and Fredrik Sjostrom assisted on the goal.

The Rangers added two more goals, one by Girardi from the slot and one by Ryan Callahan, who went top-shelf over Marty from the right circle.

Callahan’s goal earned a wave of cheers from the fans at Madison Square Garden, especially for Sean Avery’s secondary assist. Avery had screened Brodeur all night, getting in his face and frustrating the goaltender.

The Devils took 28 minutes in penalties during the game, most of them coming from roughing calls for trying to get Avery out of the crease after the whistle blew play dead.

“There’s guys in this league, that’s their job to disturb,” Captain Jamie Langenbrunner said of Avery. “He has a job and he does it well.”

In the third period, with what little life the Devils had left, David Clarkson tried to fight Avery and he would not fight back.

Clarkson threw the forward to the ice, picked him up and threw him back down, earning Clarkson two roughing penalties and a game misconduct, eliminating him from the rest of the game. Avery was slapped with two minutes for roughing, but really tried to have nothing to do with Clarkson.

“It certainly takes discipline for sure. You fight for your team and fight for your teammates. At that point, I didn’t need to fight for either of them so there really was no point,” Avery explained.

Both teams, though, were fighting for the postseason; the Rangers to get in and the Devils to get back the second place seed in the Eastern Conference they had all but locked up.

The win puts the Rangers three points ahead of eighth-seed Montreal and one point behind sixth-seed Pittsburgh. But Rangers Coach John Tortorella is not going to assume anything yet.

“We don’t have a playoff spot. We are in the playoffs but we are still fighting for our lives. We are just trying to find a way to get points,” Tortorella said. “We are just taking it a game at a time. I know playoffs is a subject, but we want to just get in and we are going to take it a game at a time to give ourselves a chance to get in there.”

Despite having a playoff spot locked up, the five-game skid the Devils are on is nearly identical to the losing streak New Jersey took into the post-season last year, when these same Rangers bumped them out in five games.

“Don’t you want to finish second in your conference? Don’t you want have home ice advantage if you advance past the first round? Don’t you want to have pride in the fact that you have your game at the top of your level this time of year? You can’t turn a switch on. This group tried to turn a switch on last year. It didn’t work. You can say it’s a different group but the personnel a lot of it is the same,” Sutter said emphatically.

With six games remaining for the Devils, three at home and three on the road, there is not much time left for the team to get back into the winning form they had just a few weeks ago.

The Rangers’ playoff hopes may still crash, but they are showing more signs of life than their rivals across the Hudson River.

“Five in a row is five in a row. Doesn’t matter if you play well, you play poorly, you score a lot of goals or you give up a lot of goals. Five in a row in this league is unacceptable,” Langenbrunner said.

Tonight’s 3-0 Ranger win was no exception.

With an assist and a non-fight against David Clarkson, the Grate One had his presence felt each minute he was on the ice.

“It’s old news right now,” said coach John Tortorella. “Sean Avery is part of the hockey team. He’s a disciplined player for us. He’s an effective player for us. I just want to make sure we keep Sean in the team and not make it the team and Sean.”

Very well, and Avery is a different player. But as long as the NHL continues to allow the forward to be an unfair target, there will be questions about Avery.

All night long the Devils were seeking out No. 16. He was bumped bruised and tossed around by packs of faceless players. And when David Clarkson went after Avery in the third, the referees allowed Avery to be rag dolled to the ice, not once but twice.

And the league doesn’t just turn a blind eye, it actually sanctions the abuse. The referees sit there and unfairly let Avery take his lumps. He took a pummeling and then had to sit for two minutes on a roughing call? That’s ridiculous. If Avery was good enough to be reinstated, then he should be shown the same impartial on-ice arbitration as every other player in the rink.

“I think [the refs] look at him differently than the rest of us,” said Ranger captain Chris Drury. “For whatever reason, because he was never suspended for anything on-ice. I think he got a tough ride. He’s been competing like crazy and showing discipline.”

Sure Avery and his mouth brought all of this on, but he did the time for the crime and now has a second chance. Unfortunately the National Hypocrite League doesn’t see it that way and continues to persecute a player for a past sin with time served. If Avery was suspended for a cocaine addiction, frequented a prostitute, did steroids, or anything else illegal he would have been welcomed back with open arms for his courage and strength to get through the tough time. Heck he may have been a Masterton nominee for it.

But all Avery did was say things about his ex-girlfriend and agitate players. It makes you wonder about the thin skin of the NHL. These players have competed on a high level since grade school. They have to have heard it all. What does No. 16 say that makes them so crazy? Sure he gets personal, but come-on. Have they ever just thought of just ignoring him?

Of course not, which makes Avery a target. To his credit Avery is a changed person. No longer does he send barbs out through the press. Two years ago he called Clarkson a “bonehead minor leaguer” after being targeted and now Avery is a little more restrained with his remarks.

“You know it’s a 3-0 game and I don’t think there’s anything to gain at that point,” he said and also added, “It certainly takes discipline for sure. You fight for your team and for your teammates. At that point, I didn’t need to fight for either of them.”

Clarkson received a 10 minute misconduct, but Colin Campbell needs to step in and suspend the Devils forward. If the league is serious about cutting down on fighting, they need to do something about the mugging that took place in the third. It’s only right.

Imagine if the same thing happened with Brandon Dubinsky, Ryan Callahan, or even Chris Drury. The question would then not be if, but how long should Clarkson sit. But because it’s Avery, the National Hypocrite League decides it’s ok for it to happen.  Because Avery is persona non-grata in this league, the biased calls and cheap shots are allowed to continue.

Yet, maybe in the long run that’s a good thing. Avery is trying to improve and become a better player and person and with each passing day, the Rangers little devil is proving that he’s already above the hypocrites that run this show.

Yet, when it comes to the Minnesota Wild, it’s always a trap game, as Jacques Lemaire’s system slows down the attacking opponents almost to a crawl.

In the end though, the Blueshirts didn’t get trapped, coming out the 2-1 win over the Wild to gain an important 2-points in the standings.

“[Minnesota] is well disciplined; they are patient and they are waiting for mistakes,” said Scott Gomez, who got the game winner early in the second. “Torts definitely stressed it right from the get go. Every time he came into the room, he said these are the teams teams that if you make a mistake they are going to capitalize on it.”

More than anything, it was the Minnesota trap the Rangers were fighting all night long and that slowed down the Blueshirt attack as the game went on. After getting 23 shots through two, the Rangers kept a man back on the Wild in the third and mustered only seven against Niklas Backstrom, who was sharp pretty much the whole night.

“They didn’t have a lot of shots, but they had some pretty big scoring chances,”said Ranger goalie Henrik Lundqvist, who faced a season low 18 shots for the second time this season [the first coming in Ottawa on November 22^nd]. “It was kind of tough to stay sharp, but as long as you keep it at one goal, you feel pretty good.”

The Rangers actually fought through the trap most in the first, taking 10 shots in the period, but had to wait until 4.4 second left in the period when Nikolai Zherdev was able to put in a tough angle shot over the sprawled out Backstrom to give the Blueshirts the lead going into the dressing room.

Actually the life came 16:20 into the period when Sean Avery had his first fight since returning to the Rangers, taking on Cal Clutterbuck and knocking the Minnesota enforcer to the ice.

“I wanted to fight,” said Avery, who also had an assist. “I wanted to fight against Ottawa and wasn’t happy with the way I played.”

“Sean knows he didn’t play that well the other night,” added coach John Tortorella. “. He didn’t get some ice to play on. It didn’t allow him to play his game. I think he wanted to get back into his game, bang a little bit, fight.”

Colton Orr followed with a one sided match against the Wild captain, Owen Nolan, after the two collided at the blue line.

But it wasn’t the fights the won the Rangers the game. It was their resiliency after Marian Gaborik tied the game, 1:31 into the second. Just :53 second later, Avery outletted to Gomez in the slot, who put it past Backstrom to untie the match and ultimately give the Rangers their two points.

“I know it wasn’t the most exciting game for the fans, but that’s how you got to play against a team like that. You always [want to] give an exciting game for the home crowd. It’s a tough team to play against. They play a system that’s frustrating, but we just played through it.”

Notes: The stench from the Garden wasn’t the power play, but the elephants that arrived from the circus on Monday. But the power play stunk again, after a 1-11 coming in, the Rangers went 0-5 in this match.

“It’s my responsibility,” Tortorella said. “Some coaching needs to have to come in, so I have to take responsibility.”

Michael Sauer played his first game, registering 13:33 of ice time pairing with Paul Mara. “The thing that I was impressed with is when you have a young kid come up, it’s off the glass and out,” Tortorella said. “I love his poise with the puck. I thought he had chances to get rid of the puck and give his problems to someone else, but he kept control of it, held onto it and made a better play.”

Because the grating left wing keeps on scoring and making a difference for the Blueshirts. This time with two goals in the Rangers 4-1 win over the Flyers to salvage the back end of the home-and-home series.

“When he gets the puck, five guys on their team want to kill him,” said his linemate Scott Gomez. “The energy he brings when he is playing his style of going up and down, there is probably no one in the league faster just going straight up.”

Avery made his presence felt on both ends of the ice. Besides the obvious tallies, he also got into the Flyers’ heads with his grinding style of play, which made Philly coach John Stevens wonder is the old Sean had returned. “I think his probation period is over and now he’s back up to his old antics to be quite honest with you,” Stevens said. “We started worrying about him instead of playing the game.”

According to a few Philadelphia reporters, most of the Flyers disagreed with their coach. No matter, because Avery seemed very controlled today on the ice and off of it after the game. His energy raises the intensity of the Garden, which gives his team the slightest edge over their opponents.

“Sean is showing what he can do as a player,” Ranger coach John Tortorella said. “It’s not potential, it is what he can do as a player. If he just keeps up the concentration and continues to just worry about playing and not the other stuff, he can do things he has been doing for the hockey club.”

That includes scoring, blocking shots and grating on the opponent but more importantly: “They are not booing us, they are chanting ‘Avery,’” joked Ranger captain Chris Drury. “I will take that any day.”

Yet, it’s not some sort of therapeutic black magic that put Avery in this position. There’s more to it than that. Coming back to the Rangers has seemed to balance him and we was welcomed back by a group of players looking for something or someone who can lead them.

Although he’s not the prototypical leadership type, Avery was asked to step up by not just his teammates, but also Tortorella, who is a demanding coach to say the least.

“That is probably exactly what this organization needed,” Avery said. “He holds everyone accountable, including myself. Certainly, on a personal note, I feel like he is on me a lot and trying to get the most out of me and get the most out of all the guys.”

Even though Round 2 of the Avery Era has begun on a good note, he knows there’s still a lot of work to do. The small winger has to stay focused, because there’s a target on his back every time he’s on the ice. So he really has to have his head in the game.

“I probably think it has to do with my mindset and where my head is more than anything,” he said. “We talked about, after the first couple of games, how I was just so nervous and kind of playing a little too hard. So I was trying to slow it down and think about the plays and were things are going to end up and try and anticipate it.”

He probably won’t keep up the pace, as Avery’s type of play leads to little injuries which slow him down, but it doesn’t matter. The Rangers will use the Grate One to their best advantage and ride the little Gretzky like streak to wherever it leads them, be it the playoffs, a few round wins, or even further than that.