MONTREAL – The document revealed that 11 of the forwards had gotten between 3:38 and 5:54 of ice time in the first period Thursday night, with the 12th on for 7:29. So it obviously was a scoresheet from the Devils-Flyers match in Philadelphia.

Obviously.

Obviously not.

For the document in fact was the first intermission scoresheet from the Rangers-Maple Leafs game at the Garden, and the team that had been so egalitarian in its approach was the Rangers, who may last have been associated with the term “four lines” when Don Murdoch was young and impressionable.

“Let me tell you what, if it hadn’t been for all the penalties in the second period, I would have kept rolling over four lines all game,” Ron Low said of the 2-1 OT victory over Toronto. “I have a lot of confidence in our fourth line to go out there and give us energy. Beyond that, they were in the other end just about all night, taking the body, forechecking.

“Given the opportunity, I’m going to try to go with that kind of a rotation as much as I can.”

The final numbers from Thursday’s game were skewed due to the absurd manner with which referees Paul Devorski and Scott Zelkin managed the match. Only 4:59 of the first 15:52 of the second period were played five-on-five.

By the end of the match, the teams had played five-on-five for only 42:13 of the 64:33 affair that included second- period stretches in which the Rangers were continuously short-handed for 3:45 and the Maple Leafs were continuously down a man (or two) for 3:39.

“When you run into situations like that, it’s almost impossible to get your fourth line on the ice,” said Low. “Once we got by the first period, there really wasn’t much rhythm out there.”

It’s also more difficult to utilize four lines on the road, where the visiting coach is pretty much at the mercy of the way the home team runs its bench. While Low has faith in the Manny Malhotra-Eric Lacroix-Michal Grosek unit, he nearly always matches the line against the opposition’s fourth line. So Low last night was going to be checking out Montreal.

“It’s definitely more of a challenge getting them in, although we did have one shift against Toronto where Manny was on against [Mats] Sundin,” Low said prior to last night’s match against the Canadiens. “It was right after a power play, so Toronto skipped its fourth line.

“When I saw that, my first instinct was to get a [line] change, but our guys had them pretty well pinned in their own end for most of the shift, and did fine. So even if the Canadiens stick to three lines, I’ll look for a way to get our fourth line on when I can.”

As Low the last three games has turned more often to his fourth line, he’s changed his approach on assignments for his top three lines. Petr Nedved’s unit has gone against the opposition’s top line-Nedved more than held his own on Tuesday against the Flyers’ brawny Keith Primeau and then again on Thursday against the Maple Leafs’ Sundin – while Mike York’s line has taken on the checking unit and Mark Messier’s trio has been matched against the third line.

Again, though, those games were played at the Garden. Last night’s was played on the road, where the Rangers hadn’t won since the night before Thanksgiving, having gone 11 straight (0-10-1) since feasting on the Islanders.

“I don’t think line matching has had anything to do with that,” said Low. “I just think our mental approach on the road hasn’t been as strong as necessary.

“That’s what we have to work on.”

*

While they’re working on things, the Rangers might want to discuss their power play, which had gone 1-for-37 and 2-for-59 after an 0-for-6 night against the Maple Leafs. The Rangers had been outscored 17-2 on specialty teams in the 12 games prior to last night (2 PPGs for, 12 PPGs, 4 SHGs and one penalty- shot goal against) . . . Mike Richter entered the match having allowed eight goals in his last four starts for a GAA of 1.94 . . . Blueshirts are in Carolina tomorrow, then home to the Hurricanes on Wednesday before hosting the Islanders on Friday and playing in Toronto the following night.