Marian Gaborik

Describes motivation process for creativity with emphasis on intrinsic motivation by Corey K Katir

The Rangers are like a heavyweight in the middle rounds of a grueling title bout, conserving energy, throwing metaphorical punches in short bursts, no longer on their toes, but comfortable in the clinches and on the ropes while dug in for the long haul.

They play in spurts now, these Black-and-Blueshirts, and if anyone suggests a let alone insists a this is not the byproduct of the club having been forced to grind through a pair of seven-game series to open this tournament following an 82-game season in which maximum effort was demanded and expended on essentially every shift, then that person is spinning a tale.

But hereas the crux of the matter: The Rangers are surviving this way, are up 2-1 over the Devils in the Eastern finals after yesterdayas Game 3, 3-0 victory at the Rock playing their way, with so much of it made possible by the Swedish security blanket that covers their net.

Historically great goaltenders affix their signatures not only to games, but to their respective teamas style. Ken Dryden and Martin Brodeur won multiple Stanley Cups making critical saves at critical moments behind staunch defenses that yielded relatively few chances. Mike Richter won a Cup and Grant Fuhr won a handful making huge saves behind teams that pressed the attack but were prone to yield the odd-man rush.

And Henrik Lundqvist, the coolest man in the room unless Brad Richards enters it, and then both can claim that mantle; this royal goaltender is made for this Rangers team that often regards the defensive zone as a comfort zone and can spend shifts at a time back there without coming undone or unglued.

Yesterday provided another example of The Kingas value to his tired team, for not only was he unflappable with the puck in his own end for most of the first 30 minutes, Lundqvistas sprawling glove save on an Ilya Kovalchuk breakaway 45 seconds into the second denied the Devils the emotional lift a not to mention the lead a they so desperately required.

aAs a goalie, you donat get the choice of when you want to be there for your team,a Lundqvist told The Post after recording his second shutout of the series and third of the tournament. aThe most important thing for a goalie is to be there when youare needed by the team, not when it might be easiest for you.

aItas exciting for me to know that I can come through when the team needs me. Thatas what this game is about, being there and competing for your teammates.a

Thereas no denying the acompetea plasma that courses through the veins of every Blueblood in the room. There is also no denying the fatigue factor afflicting the Rangers, though no player would ever admit to it and no coach in his right mind would ever offer that up as an explanation or excuse.

It is no coincidence nearly all of the Rangersa best offensive shifts yesterday came with Chris Kreider on the ice, with the 21-year-old winger getting time on the left with both Richards and Marian Gaborik and Derek Stepan and Ryan Callahan, exchanging places for a number of shifts with Carl Hagelin.

Kreider isnat merely a freshman in the league; he is fresh, coming off a 44-game season with Boston College, and it shows on almost every turn out there, strong on the puck, able to keep the puck on his stick and as effective below the hash marks yesterday, notably with Richards and Gaborik, as in open ice.

The Rangers regained their game late in the second and throughout the third. Callahan was indefatigable, breaking through for an empty-netter. Richards recorded a signature Big Moment play by cleanly winning a left wing faceoff from Patrik Elias to set up Dan Girardias power-play score at 3:19 of the third for the gameas first goal.

But in the end, and at the beginning, there was Lundqvist.

There is always Lundqvist for the Rangers, the goaltender who has affixed his signature to the franchise.

The Rangersa beleaguered penalty kill was monumental in yesterdayas 3-0 win in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Devils.

By forcing the Devils to go 0-for-5 over a full 10:00 of man-advantage time, the Rangers took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series with Game 4 tomorrow night at the Prudential Center.

aThese games are so tight, thatas what it comes down to sometimes,a Rangers defenseman Marc Staal said about special teams. aOur penalty kill was huge tonight, and our power play found a way to get one.a

The biggest kill probably came 14:04 into the second period, when John Mitchell took an interference call. After killing it off with ease, the momentum slightly turned for what would be a great third period for the Rangers, when they scored all three of their goals, the first by Dan Girardi on the power play.

aWe generated some opportunities, some zone time, moved the puck around well,a said Devils coach Pete DeBoer. aWhen their goalie [Henrik Lundqvist] is on like that, your goaltender is your best penalty killer, and I think that was the case.a

* Rangers captain Ryan Callahan scored an empty-net goal in the third period to finish off the scoring, his first aeven-strengtha goal since Game 1 of the first round against the Senators.

aNow Iall just have to try to do it with a goalie in net,a Callahan said.

He has four goals in the postseason, with two coming on the power play.

On what turned out to be Girardias game-winning goal in the third period, the play started at the faceoff dot on a draw between Brad Richards and Danius Zubrus. Richards won the draw cleanly back to Girardi, who walked in and buried a wrist shot to make it 1-0.

aI made a mistake because I thought Richards would take it left,a Zubrus said. aIt went right to the middle to Girardi. I was way out of position on that.a

Tortorella mixed his lines up again yesterday.

On what could be called the third line was center Brian Boyle with Brandon Prust and Mike Rupp on the wings, while the fourth line was Artem Anisimov-John Mitchell-Ruslan Fedotenko.

Both lines played essentially the same amount of even-strength minutes a not much a and could not spark an offense that continued to lack 5-on-5 production.

The top line of Carl Hagelin-Brad Richards-Marian Gaborik stayed intact. For a good portion of the first period, coming off a penalty kill, Hagelin was switched out for Chris Kreider, but at the start of the second, Kreider went back to skating with Callahan and Derek Stepan.

* Steve Eminger replaced Stu Bickel on the Rangersa backline, and played a total of 6:20. It was Emingeras second game of the playoffs, the first being in Game 1 against the Capitals in the second round, when he played 4:25 as a forward.

aWe put [Eminger] in because we just wanted to get to pucks quicker,a coach John Tortorella said. aWe thought he may be able to get to pucks quicker.

aWeave had a few struggles with our coverage. aBickas a hell of a story as far as what heas done for our hockey club this year. We tried it today. Weall look at the tape, and Iam not sure where we go with it for the next game.a

The Devils kept Peter Harrold in on defense for the second straight game instead of rookie Adam Larsson.

bcyrgalis@nypost.com

If curious how much Chris Kreider has assimilated to the Rangersa way of doing things, you need to look no further than this exchange yesterday afternoon, moments after he scored his fifth goal of the playoffs, in the 15th game of his professional career, helping his team to a 3-0 victory in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference finals against the Devils.

aChris, whatas the feeling like right now with all youave been through over the past three weeks?a a reporter asked.

aIam worried about the next game,a Kreider said with a smile. aAs clichA(c) as it sounds, Iam pretty aware that weave been splitting [alternating wins], but I want to win that next one.a

The Rangers now lead the best-of-seven series, 2-1, and they can put a stranglehold on their cross-river rivals by taking Game 4 in Newark tomorrow night. And they will most likely continue to lean heavily on Kreider, who played again on the second line with Ryan Callahan and Derek Stepan, even at times switching to the top line with Brad Richards and Marian Gaborik.

Just over five minutes into the third period, with the Rangers leading 1-0, Kreider went to the front of the Devils net when Ryan McDonagh took a shot from the point that deflected off Kreideras stick and in. It gave him three goals in his past three games, and his attitude about them explains the Rangersa attitude to the core.

aIad trade that for three wins, though,a Kreider said, no offhandedness at all in his voice. aIam just worried about the next one.a

For as level-headed as this 21-year-old is, his real value has shown on the ice. Though the Rangers will deny it, after playing the maximum amount of games to this point in the playoffs, they often have looked like a tired team.

Two seven-game series against the Senators and Capitals in the first two rounds have left Kreider, just three weeks removed from winning his second national championship in three years at Boston College, the freshest player on the ice.

aI think thatas definitely easier in a way,a Kreider said. aCollege hockey, you have two games on the weekend and the whole week to think about them. So itas a lot of fun to play so many games in such a short time period.a

It has also been a lot of fun for his teammates and coaches to watch him, as his five goals puts him behind only Brad Richards for the team postseason lead.

aHe has a knack,a coach John Tortorella said. aThe puck follows him around.a

Tortorella admitted to having spoken to Kreider athree or four times since heas been herea and added he adoesnat even know the kid.a The coach also said Kreider has a lot to learn away from the puck, but all of that can be addressed in the offseason.

As for now, there is an immense amount of appreciation for what Kreider has contributed to the club in its quest for the Stanley Cup.

Said Tortorella, aItas pretty exciting to see what heas doing.a

bcyrgalis@nypost.com

WASHINGTON — As suspected, Marc Staal’s aching left knee will prevent the Rangers’ first-pair defenseman from playing Thursday against the Capitals.

Staal, who twisted the knee on the first shift of Tuesday’s match in Carolina yet hung in until the 6:40 mark of the third period, will miss the first game of his four-year career due to injury. The defenseman has played in 247 straight since sitting out a pair of games with the flu on Feb. 16-17, 2008, the only games he previously missed.

“It’s just sore,” John Tortorella said following the morning skate. “As much as a hole as that provides for us here, we want to be smart about it and not have him out for an extended period.”

Steve Eminger, a healthy scratch in nine of the prior 10, will replace Staal in the lineup, but Tortorella will juggle his pairings in order to allow Dan Girardi, Staal’s partner, to get on the ice as often as possible against Washington’s first line that features Alex Overchkin and Nicklas Backstrom.

Tortorella said he intends to split the Ryan McDonagh-Michael Sauer tandem that has been intact for the 10 games following the All-Star break and will move McDonagh up to play the left with Girardi. Matt Gilroy will shift to the left side with Sauer, and Eminger plays the right with Michael Del Zotto.

“The McDonagh-Sauer pair has played very well and has been strong for us, but I want to have Danny Girardi on the ice as much as I can against [Ovechkin's] line. He’s actually done most of the work against Ovechkin,” Tortorella said.

Girardi missed the Rangers’ 2-1 shootout victory here over the Capitals on Jan. 24 with a pulled rib cage muscle. Sauer moved up to play the right side with Staal that night.

As Staal temporarily exits the lineup, Ruslan Fedotenko will be back in after a 14-game absence due to a shoulder strain that was followed by an appendectomy.

“With all the injuries we’ve had, this one to Feds has gone kind of unnoticed,” Tortorella said. “We’ve missed him.

“He’s a hard player to play against, a hard body-checker. I want to get him back in.”

*

Tortorella said the Rangers have received positive results from all tests conducted on the concussed Marian Gaborik.

“He’s progressing, is the way Rammer [trainer Jim Ramsay] put it,” the coach said. “He’s day-to-day as far as progressing along.”

WASHINGTON — As suspected, Marc Staal’s aching left knee will prevent the Rangers’ first-pair defenseman from playing Thursday against the Capitals.

Staal, who twisted the knee on the first shift of Tuesday’s match in Carolina yet hung in until the 6:40 mark of the third period, will miss the first game of his four-year career due to injury. The defenseman has played in 247 straight since sitting out a pair of games with the flu on Feb. 16-17, 2008, the only games he previously missed.

“It’s just sore,” John Tortorella said following the morning skate. “As much as a hole as that provides for us here, we want to be smart about it and not have him out for an extended period.”

Steve Eminger, a healthy scratch in nine of the prior 10, will replace Staal in the lineup, but Tortorella will juggle his pairings in order to allow Dan Girardi, Staal’s partner, to get on the ice as often as possible against Washington’s first line that features Alex Overchkin and Nicklas Backstrom.

Tortorella said he intends to split the Ryan McDonagh-Michael Sauer tandem that has been intact for the 10 games following the All-Star break and will move McDonagh up to play the left with Girardi. Matt Gilroy will shift to the left side with Sauer, and Eminger plays the right with Michael Del Zotto.

“The McDonagh-Sauer pair has played very well and has been strong for us, but I want to have Danny Girardi on the ice as much as I can against [Ovechkin's] line. He’s actually done most of the work against Ovechkin,” Tortorella said.

Girardi missed the Rangers’ 2-1 shootout victory here over the Capitals on Jan. 24 with a pulled rib cage muscle. Sauer moved up to play the right side with Staal that night.

As Staal temporarily exits the lineup, Ruslan Fedotenko will be back in after a 14-game absence due to a shoulder strain that was followed by an appendectomy.

“With all the injuries we’ve had, this one to Feds has gone kind of unnoticed,” Tortorella said. “We’ve missed him.

“He’s a hard player to play against, a hard body-checker. I want to get him back in.”

*

Tortorella said the Rangers have received positive results from all tests conducted on the concussed Marian Gaborik.

“He’s progressing, is the way Rammer [trainer Jim Ramsay] put it,” the coach said. “He’s day-to-day as far as progressing along.”

The Rangersa beleaguered penalty kill was monumental in yesterdayas 3-0 win in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Devils.

By forcing the Devils to go 0-for-5 over a full 10:00 of man-advantage time, the Rangers took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series with Game 4 tomorrow night at the Prudential Center.

aThese games are so tight, thatas what it comes down to sometimes,a Rangers defenseman Marc Staal said about special teams. aOur penalty kill was huge tonight, and our power play found a way to get one.a

The biggest kill probably came 14:04 into the second period, when John Mitchell took an interference call. After killing it off with ease, the momentum slightly turned for what would be a great third period for the Rangers, when they scored all three of their goals, the first by Dan Girardi on the power play.

aWe generated some opportunities, some zone time, moved the puck around well,a said Devils coach Pete DeBoer. aWhen their goalie [Henrik Lundqvist] is on like that, your goaltender is your best penalty killer, and I think that was the case.a

* Rangers captain Ryan Callahan scored an empty-net goal in the third period to finish off the scoring, his first aeven-strengtha goal since Game 1 of the first round against the Senators.

aNow Iall just have to try to do it with a goalie in net,a Callahan said.

He has four goals in the postseason, with two coming on the power play.

On what turned out to be Girardias game-winning goal in the third period, the play started at the faceoff dot on a draw between Brad Richards and Danius Zubrus. Richards won the draw cleanly back to Girardi, who walked in and buried a wrist shot to make it 1-0.

aI made a mistake because I thought Richards would take it left,a Zubrus said. aIt went right to the middle to Girardi. I was way out of position on that.a

Tortorella mixed his lines up again yesterday.

On what could be called the third line was center Brian Boyle with Brandon Prust and Mike Rupp on the wings, while the fourth line was Artem Anisimov-John Mitchell-Ruslan Fedotenko.

Both lines played essentially the same amount of even-strength minutes a not much a and could not spark an offense that continued to lack 5-on-5 production.

The top line of Carl Hagelin-Brad Richards-Marian Gaborik stayed intact. For a good portion of the first period, coming off a penalty kill, Hagelin was switched out for Chris Kreider, but at the start of the second, Kreider went back to skating with Callahan and Derek Stepan.

* Steve Eminger replaced Stu Bickel on the Rangersa backline, and played a total of 6:20. It was Emingeras second game of the playoffs, the first being in Game 1 against the Capitals in the second round, when he played 4:25 as a forward.

aWe put [Eminger] in because we just wanted to get to pucks quicker,a coach John Tortorella said. aWe thought he may be able to get to pucks quicker.

aWeave had a few struggles with our coverage. aBickas a hell of a story as far as what heas done for our hockey club this year. We tried it today. Weall look at the tape, and Iam not sure where we go with it for the next game.a

The Devils kept Peter Harrold in on defense for the second straight game instead of rookie Adam Larsson.

bcyrgalis@nypost.com

If curious how much Chris Kreider has assimilated to the Rangersa way of doing things, you need to look no further than this exchange yesterday afternoon, moments after he scored his fifth goal of the playoffs, in the 15th game of his professional career, helping his team to a 3-0 victory in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference finals against the Devils.

aChris, whatas the feeling like right now with all youave been through over the past three weeks?a a reporter asked.

aIam worried about the next game,a Kreider said with a smile. aAs clichA(c) as it sounds, Iam pretty aware that weave been splitting [alternating wins], but I want to win that next one.a

The Rangers now lead the best-of-seven series, 2-1, and they can put a stranglehold on their cross-river rivals by taking Game 4 in Newark tomorrow night. And they will most likely continue to lean heavily on Kreider, who played again on the second line with Ryan Callahan and Derek Stepan, even at times switching to the top line with Brad Richards and Marian Gaborik.

Just over five minutes into the third period, with the Rangers leading 1-0, Kreider went to the front of the Devils net when Ryan McDonagh took a shot from the point that deflected off Kreideras stick and in. It gave him three goals in his past three games, and his attitude about them explains the Rangersa attitude to the core.

aIad trade that for three wins, though,a Kreider said, no offhandedness at all in his voice. aIam just worried about the next one.a

For as level-headed as this 21-year-old is, his real value has shown on the ice. Though the Rangers will deny it, after playing the maximum amount of games to this point in the playoffs, they often have looked like a tired team.

Two seven-game series against the Senators and Capitals in the first two rounds have left Kreider, just three weeks removed from winning his second national championship in three years at Boston College, the freshest player on the ice.

aI think thatas definitely easier in a way,a Kreider said. aCollege hockey, you have two games on the weekend and the whole week to think about them. So itas a lot of fun to play so many games in such a short time period.a

It has also been a lot of fun for his teammates and coaches to watch him, as his five goals puts him behind only Brad Richards for the team postseason lead.

aHe has a knack,a coach John Tortorella said. aThe puck follows him around.a

Tortorella admitted to having spoken to Kreider athree or four times since heas been herea and added he adoesnat even know the kid.a The coach also said Kreider has a lot to learn away from the puck, but all of that can be addressed in the offseason.

As for now, there is an immense amount of appreciation for what Kreider has contributed to the club in its quest for the Stanley Cup.

Said Tortorella, aItas pretty exciting to see what heas doing.a

bcyrgalis@nypost.com

Marian Gaborik has become the Rangersa scapegoat for their 3-2 loss in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals, but he wasnat the only forward watching from the bench as the Devils tied the series going in to Game 3 Saturday afternoon in Newark.

Marian Gaborik boasts the highest salary-cap hit on the Rangers at $7.5 million per season, but bloated bank accounts donat make anyone on John Tortorellaas team exempt from having their playing time slashed for costly mistakes.

Personal Injury Lawyer Los Angeles – FREE CONSULTATION by Personal Injury Attorney Los Angeles – Legal Defenders, Los Angeles Personal Injury Lawyers – Law Offices of Burg and Brock, who have won over $100 million in verdicts and settlements for clients

Page took 3 seconds to load.