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SEVEN TEASE NIGHT

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Updated Nov 24, 2009 10:31 PM ET
     
 
Rangers 7 Jackets 4 Impotent for weeks, the Rangers found a cure for their affliction in Columbus goaltender Steve Mason that was better than CIALIS. The team that had scored five goals in its previous 210:11 minutes of Hockey exploded for six goals in a span of 15:54 after falling behind the Blue Jackets 2-0 within the first 9:31 en route to a 7-4 victory at the Garden. That seemed to give a boost to everyone's confidence in the wake of a slide that had reached 4-9-1 and dropped the Rangers to 10th place in the East. Marian Gaborik, arguably the most natural goal-scorer in franchise history, got two more, giving him 12 in his past 11 games, 18 for the season and a share of the NHL lead with Dany Heatley. Sean Avery scored a pair within 51 seconds following a 16-game drought. Artem Anisimov, Michael Del Zotto and Matt Gilroy also scored in the game in which there were wide patches of open ice available for both sides. "Confidence is such a big part of this game, both for individuals and a team," said Avery, who combined with linemates Anisimov and P.A. Parenteau to produce a seven-point night for the unit. "When you don't have it, that can do a lot of damage, so our game tonight should certainly be a help in that regard. "I'm happy that we were able to score the way we did, but realistically it's only one game. The challenge is to sustain it." The challenge after falling behind 2-0 at the 9:31 mark was not to shrink into nothingness. As soon as Jared Boll took advantage of one of many defensive zone breakdowns to give the Jackets a two-goal edge, head coach John Tortorella called a timeout and told his team to relax. "When they scored the second, it felt like things couldn't get any worse for us," Henrik Lundqvist said. "Torts told us to settle down and I thought that we followed that advice. "It was kind of a weird game, a little sloppy and certainly not a battle of goaltenders. I thought it was important that we didn't panic when we fell behind like that. Instead we regrouped. And then when we needed positive energy, we got it from No. 10." That's No. 10 as in Gaborik, who converted Vinny Prospal's centering feed 1:58 after the timeout to start the Rangers on their way back. Gaborik scored 10 goals in his final 10 games last season for the Wild, meaning that he has scored 28 goals in his past 31 games. "I don't go into games thinking about scoring goals," said the Rangers' elegant assassin. "I approach each game with my focus on being solid at both ends of the ice and playing the right way, because that's what leads to scoring chances." Scoring chances became goals against Mason, who was replaced after yielding four goals on 18 shots in 26:12. Reliever Mathieu Garon made like J.J. Putz and gave up two in 20 seconds within his first 1:04 of work. "We still have a lot of work to do, but I thought we played hard," Tortorella said. "When you're going through a tough time, which we are now, you need to stay with it, which I thought we did." Now the trick is to make sure this wasn't just a one-time cure lasting less than four hours.
Tagged: Rangers, Sean Avery, Steve Mason, Marian Gaborik, Artem Anisimov, Blue Jackets

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