Avery has shown more discipline this season and Tortorella has noticed

It was a small moment in a meaningless game, but it meant something to Sean Avery.

In Newark a month ago, Avery and Devils agitator David Clarkson were mixing it up when Dane Byers jumped in and fought Clarkson. Byers is down in Hartford now, but Avery, who so often likes to zig when his teammates zag, is moving forward.

Avery was the one who jumped in to a teammate's defense Saturday in Boston, fighting Mark Stuart after Stuart leveled Ruslan Fedotenko.

Avery is on board with John Tortorella's program. That is a big deal for the Rangers, who have won three straight.

"That was good what he did the other night," Tortorella told Newsday after Sunday's 3-1 win over the Devils at the Garden. "I think there's a sense in our room that we're joining together in those type of situations. There is a developing, if you want to call it, a team toughness. I think that drags people into it. And I think we're doing it the right way. It's not losing your discipline completely and turning it into a freak show. We're doing it the right way - hard, in their face, stepping in when you need to, and that's developing in our room."

Avery, who has had good line chemistry with rookie Derek Stepan and Fedotenko, is still agitating, still doing his thing. He's still a target for abuse from opponents and still wears a bull's-eye on his back from officials waiting for Avery to cross a line. He took a high-sticking penalty Sunday that was nothing more than a glove to the face of a Devils player, but that's the deal with Avery.

The rest of the deal has been that he likes to be different. He rubbed Tortorella the wrong way last season, culminating in a healthy scratch March 12 in Atlanta. But Avery came to training camp in good shape and determined, and he has gotten regular third-line turns since the season began and drawn praise from Tortorella.

"As I've said before, Sean needs to believe that he's a good player. We believe he's a good player," Tortorella said. "We don't need all the antics around it; we want him to play on edge, we don't need all the antics that crosses the line sometimes. I just want him to believe that his play will speak for him, none of the other stuff. I think his play can speak for itself."

Avery steered clear of most of the talk about his play, and the team atmosphere. "The way we stuck up for each other the other night was big," he said. "You have to have that from everyone."

He much preferred to discuss the team effort. "We're trying to model ourselves after a team that wins, a team that's won and done it for a long time," he said. "That's winning three, four, five games in a row, not losing two in a row . . . Our system is set in stone as far as how we want to play. If you don't play the system, you're going to stick out like a sore thumb. Everyone's doing it."