Torts likes keeping Prust, Boyle together

Brian Boyle's playoff mustache -- since copied by Brandon Dubinsky, who scored the winning goal in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals Sunday -- hasn't brought him similar luck in the scoring department.

The 6-7 center, who said that he "wasn't really going for style points, I can't grow a beard," fired nine shots on Caps rookie goaltender Michal Neuvirth on Sunday and missed the net on another.

"I guess I'm not shooting enough," joked Boyle, who scored a career-high 21 goals in the regular season, but only two in the last 23 games. "If I hit the net in the first period, it was going in, he didn't see it. When I get the puck, I try to shoot it quick. It's not much of a magic formula. The kid made some really good saves, I'm not going to get too down, just try to keep shooting."

But Boyle, who led the team in hits (240) and shots (218) during the regular season, and right wing Brandon Prust have proved an effective pair. Prust scored 13 goals (five shorthanded) and racked up 18 fighting majors. They are two of the four Rangers who appeared in all 82 games and have been paired in the series, which the Rangers trail 2-1 and resumes at Madison Square Garden Wednesday night.

Boyle and Prust are skating in their first NHL postseason and coach John Tortorella has kept them together.

"I've either had [Ruslan] Fedotenko or Sean [Avery] with those two and it's always been an effective line," he said. "In the playoffs, that's a very important ingredient to have, that type of line.

"You're always looking to try to get some confidence. It's always nice to play in your home building.

" . . . I thought Brian Boyle's line, the first shift, it got the building going and stirred everything up a bit.''

Prust, who arrived Feb. 1, 2010 with Olli Jokinen in a trade with Calgary, had a reputation as just a fighter, but blossomed under Tortorella.

"You get everything out of him; he looks ugly as hell skating sometimes," Tortorella said, "but he seems to get there and forecheck.''

Avery's speed adds to the forecheck, Tortorella said, and his play the past two games prompted the Rangers to send Mats Zuccarello back to the AHL Connecticut Whale Monday.

"If someone else comes on our line, it's always been a complementary piece," Boyle said. "They know how we're going to play. Prusty distributes the pucks really well and I'm usually more of a shooter. He goes in and forechecks and gets pucks back and creates zone time, which is what we need against the Capitals. And maybe I can get a few more guys on board with mustaches."

Notes & quotes: Goaltender Martin Biron (broken collarbone, Feb. 28) skated in equipment for the first time Monday but said he is weeks from playing. "I can't take shots," he said, "and I can't have 225-pound guys crashing into me until the bone's fully healed."