Depleted Rangers need unsung players to step up

The Rangers set about making Madison Square Garden a tough place for opponents to play.

They made it much tougher on themselves Friday night. The Rangers did salvage a point in the 4-3 overtime loss to the Leafs, and fourth-line center Brian Boyle's two third-period goals were something to build on.

But there were already too many losses. Chris Drury, returning after missing the first two games with a broken finger, left in the second period after breaking the same finger when he collided with Michal Rozsival.

Marian Gaborik left a few minutes later with a shoulder injury that will keep him out at least two weeks after a borderline hit from Colby Armstrong.

Their offensive leader and their captain gone in the second period. It was during that same stretch that the Leafs, the worst team in the Eastern Conference a year ago, simply dominated and turned a 1-0 Ranger lead into a 3-1 advantage by flying to loose pucks and speeding around and through a worrisome Rangers defense.

The score was 3-1, the shots were 30-12 and even the faceoffs were 22-7 in Toronto's favor. Boos rained down and the Rangers looked lost.

"We spent the first two periods chasing them and not being physical," Brandon Dubinsky said. "That's certainly not the way we wanted to play."

Enter Boyle, whose wrist shot 2:10 into the third brought the Rangers within a goal. Boyle snapped off another one and the Rangers rallied for a point they had no business getting.

Now comes the hard part. Gaborik was still without a goal through the first seven-plus periods of the season, a drought he barely experienced during last year's 42-goal run. The Rangers cried out often last season for a second or third weapon behind Gaborik; now the secondary scorers have to become primary.

The Dubinsky-Artem Anisimov-Ryan Callahan line, when it was together as the Rangers tried to cycle through 11 forwards, was unspectacular.

Derek Stepan, the opening-night hat trick hero, is still finding his NHL legs. Sean Avery had two assists and one Tiger Woods-esque whack at Mike Komisarek's ankle that drew a penalty in the third.

Down the stretch of last season, there were too many nights when their stars failed to shine and their fourth-liners were the most effective forwards.

Without Gaborik now, and without Vinny Prospal, who will have another knee surgery Tuesday, the Rangers need the fourth-liners to have big nights. Boyle seized the moment.

Good for him, good for the Rangers, who have defensive-zone issues that are as serious as their injury woes. Henrik Lundqvist has allowed 12 goals in three games; that used to be a bad couple of weeks for him.

And now there's no Gaborik. The Rangers have managed to score goals without their star getting any so far. They have to do it without their star, period, from here on.