OTTAWA — The conversation a long time coming took place on foreign soil, Friday on the ice at Carleton University outside of Ottawa, and lasted about 12 minutes, with animated hand gestures, heads bent and crooked, and shrugs of the shoulders and arms.
After it was over, neither of its participants would discuss what was said, but one doesn’t have to stretch too far to figure out the contents of the discussion between Rangers coach John Tortorella and his slumping and distant star winger, Marian Gaborik.
“I’ll have no discussions regarding the discussion I have with my players,” said Tortorella, whose team continues to struggle with consistency and scoring, in lockstep with the punchless Gaborik, going into Saturday’s game against the Canadiens in Montreal after a 3-0 loss to the Senators in Ottawa on Thursday.
“This is not one particular player,” Tortorella said. “Offensively, it is not just Gabby, it is not one particular player. You win as a team, you lose as a team. For us to be consistent, it becomes a club situation, not one particular situation.”
Here was the clear situation during the practice: Gaborik, him of the $7.5 million per-year contract, him who lead the team with 41 goals last regular season, him who has been one of the most electric scorers in the NHL since joining the Rangers in 2009 . . . skating on a distinctive fourth line with recent call-up Kris Newbury and ineffective flank Taylor Pyatt.
“It is what it is,” Gaborik said. “Whatever line I’m on, I have to try and make a difference.”
Gaborik has very rarely made a difference through the first 33 games, scoring nine goals in six games, just two of them in the past 20 games. The Rangers hold on to eighth place in the conference by virtue of having one game in hand over the Islanders – both with 35 points – and six of the Rangers’ next seven are against teams currently ranked in the conference’s top six.
“It’s been a frustrating time, of course,” Gaborik, 31, said. “I want to contribute, I want to do better. I have to put frustration on the side and just focus on the game and try to make a difference. I’m going to try to do that and keep working hard and get going.”
As for his conversation with Tortorella, Gaborik internalized the message and knows describing it will do no good.
“We had a good conversation,” Gaborik said. “That’s it.”
