Fedotenko steps up his game in playoffs

OTTAWA -- Besides Brian Boyle, the Ranger forward who has really stepped up down the stretch and in the first three games of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals has been Ruslan Fedotenko.

Fedotenko, who won Stanley Cups in 2003-04 with John Tortorella and Tampa Bay, and also 2008-09 with Pittsburgh, was benched for two games after scoring just two points in 16 games. After he returned March 24, Fedotenko was 1-3 in the last eight regular season games and has one assist in the postseason. "I sat back and kind of looked what I was not doing," he said. "In my mind, I was a little bit too conservative at times."

Tortorella says the turnaround is "a mental thing," but the 33-year-old veteran believes that spring hockey is fits him.

"I've had some great playoff series, but maybe in 2006, I wasn't so good," he said Wednesday. "Year to year it's different. I feel like maybe it suits my style of game a little better . . . More physical, quicker, grinding, I don't shy away from that."

Knowing what Tortorella requires in his troops is an advantage.

"It helps for me to understand what he demanded, what it takes to win and to accomplish your goals," Fedotenko said. "And I feel pretty lucky, in the earlier stages, to have been with great players who challenged me to be successful in this league."

SEE PHOTOSTop 10 Rangers playoff moments

Hagelin serves No. 2

Carl Hagelin served the second game in his three-game suspension for his high hit on Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson, who did not dress for the second consecutive game . . . The Plymouth Whalers were knocked out the playoffs, so J.T. Miller, the Rangers' first- round pick in last summer's draft, will be joining the Connecticut Whale, the sixth seed in the East, who face the Islanders' AHL affiliate, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers (No. 3) in the Calder Cup playoffs, which begin Thursday. Thirteen players on the Rangers roster have played in Hartford.