7 games left for Rangers to get on track

BOSTON -- Games against teams in the playoff hunt or with something to prove fill the final seven dates of the Rangers' schedule, starting with Saturday's matinee against the Bruins. "All the way through," coach John Tortorella said Friday.

The Bruins, in third place in the East and a potential first-round playoff opponent for the seventh-place Rangers, should help trigger a higher battle level than Florida or Ottawa did.

"We need to get back to who we are, and Boston should help us get there," Tortorella said after practice. "We need to get back to our style of game," which relies on forechecking and physical play. That could open the door for Sean Avery, a healthy scratch for five of the last six games, to return to the lineup.

The Rangers are two points behind the sixth-place Canadiens, two points ahead of the eighth-place Sabres (who have a game in hand) and five points ahead of the ninth-place Hurricanes (who have a game in hand).

With his team scoring only two goals in the past two games -- plus one in overtime -- Tortorella is considering changes. He is wrestling with whether to break up the Vinny Prospal-Erik Christensen-Marian Gaborik trio.

"It's a line that was playing well," Tortorella said. "In my mind, I want it to play well. I'm trying to force it to play well. I don't think they were dreadful offensively through these past few games, but you've got to make sure we get things done defensively. It just seems like they get hemmed in quite a bit. I'd like it to work, but not sure what I'm going to do."

If Avery were reinstated, that likely would mean Wojtek Wolski or Mats Zuccarello, whose ice time has decreased, would sit and perhaps Christensen or Prospal would drop down. But Wolski and Zuccarello are two of Tortorella's top three shootout choices, which adds another layer of analysis. Five of the last six games against the Bruins were decided by a goal, and neither team has scored more than three goals in any meeting.

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"Even when you think about your lineups, you think about guys for shootouts. It's a different scenario as a coach with that silly thing," Tortorella said.

The Rangers host the Bruins on April 4, but looking ahead is not on the coach's to-do list.

"I'm not even thinking about who we might be playing later or even the playoffs,'' Tortorella said. "We're just trying to get there. I'm glad we get an afternoon game. You don't have to overcoach, have a bunch of meetings. Just go play."

Notes & quotes: Artem Anisimov was given a maintenance day and did not practice, but Tortorella said he will play.