Gaborik trying to make a difference

He wants to be a difference-maker. His coach wants it, his teammates want it. But Marian Gaborik's difference-making games have been fewer and farther between this season, which begs a question.

How to stand out offensively on a team that prides itself on defense and physical play?

Gaborik stood out Thursday night, but for the wrong reason. He coasted for a few strides in the neutral zone in the second period, and the Senators' Ryan Shannon blew past him to snap home Ottawa's only goal of regulation. Gaborik smacked his stick on the ice and skulked to the bench, where John Tortorella kept his star winger there for a bit.

After the second, there was a conversation. "It's motivation," Gaborik said. "You want to make a difference out there, especially after it's my guy that scored for them."

Gaborik didn't tie it. He didn't win it in overtime, even though he was manning the pivot spot during the 87 seconds of four-on-three time the Rangers had in OT. No, last season's 42-goal scorer made his biggest impact with two excellent defensive plays, closing out Senators with his body and then his stick to prevent scoring chances.

It's what Gaborik has to do to stay on the ice in Tortorella's system. Like many in the NHL now, Tortorella's style of play relies on defense first, speed through the neutral zone on the counterattack and finishing, usually without the panache or flair Gaborik has on the offensive side.

"That play has nothing to do with creativity," Tortorella said of the Ottawa goal. "It's just a backcheck."

So Gaborik, as he was at times during his eight seasons under system-first Jacques Lemaire in Minnesota, is caught in between a bit. He needs to play the system to be rewarded with ice time for his creative side -- Tortorella used nine other forwards besides Gaborik for a power play in the first period -- but Gaborik needs his creative side to get his speed and power flowing.

He is a good soldier. Tortorella often has praised Gaborik as the star who needs no coddling, no special treatment. And Gaborik, as he did Thursday night, says all the right things.

"We have a lot of big games coming up and we all have to be playing our best -- myself especially," he said.

He is singled out because Gaborik can be the star, as evidenced by his two hat tricks and one four-goal game this season. The Rangers would have been nowhere near the playoffs last season were it not for his 42 goals. He has 22 in 55 games, tied for second on a team that could end up with six 20-goal scorers, but it sometimes seems as if everyone is waiting for Gaborik to break out.

It may not come. This team is built for substance and grit over style, and Gaborik, who has had three different centers and missed time with a separated shoulder and a concussion, has had to adjust to his teammates, not the other way around, as one might think it would be.

Essentially, every game is the equivalent of Tortorella's between-periods challenge: How to create offense in a defense-first world, how to be a star in a system that values crunch over flash.

It only gets tougher, with grinding teams in the final seven and a tight-checking team in the playoffs.

"I just hesitated," Gaborik said of the play in which Shannon blew past him.

The Rangers can't afford any more hiccups.