As season resumes, Gaborik basks in spotlight

GREENBURGH, N.Y. -- Marian Gaborik couldn't avoid the procession of handshakes and back slaps from his teammates in the Rangers' locker room after Monday's practice.

Perhaps more noteworthy, the All-Star Game's Most Valuable Player got a nod across the room from goalie Henrik Lundqvist, against whom Gaborik scored twice in Sunday's first period.

"It's a game," Lundqvist said, smiling. "Of course he wants to score. It would've been fun to go one-on-one against him, but no."

With that behind them -- and the five-day layoff behind the rest of the Rangers -- the team now can focus on what's ahead of them. Namely the second-half opener at New Jersey Tuesday night, the start of a fresh slate with the Rangers (66 points) atop the Eastern Conference.

The Rangers rode into the All-Star break with two straight wins, but they play three times in the next six days and need to shake off the rust from the long weekend.

"Now it's kind of like crunch time," said center Brian Boyle, who added that Monday's practice was strong. "Guys got out on the ice early. We were ready to go."

Coach John Tortorella echoed that, saying the levels of quickness and energy were up. "I wanted to stop practice after 20 minutes and bottle it,'' he said, "because they were that good."

Neither Gaborik nor defenseman Dan Girardi practiced, but Gaborik was around in the locker room afterward to soak up the attention from his momentous weekend. Still beaming, he said teammates haven't given him much grief yet. And Tortorella said the All-Star Game experience could pay dividends.

"I was really proud of how they handled themselves," Tortorella said of the Rangers' four All-Stars. "Nothing but good things can come out of that as long as they don't let it get away from them."

Now the focus shifts back to building on what the Rangers achieved in the first 47 games of the season.

"We've had a pretty successful first half of the season and we're going to get teams' best," Boyle said. "We've got the bull's-eye on us now."

Notes & quotes: C Erik Christensen returned after a two-week conditioning stint with the Connecticut Whale. Christensen, who had two goals and an assist in five games, said it took him some time to get his legs. "You go from not playing to playing 20 minutes a game," he said. "It's a huge difference."