"That the Rangers struggled offensively Monday night against the Avalanche was no surprise given Marian Gaborik is out two to four weeks with a separated left shoulder. And nowhere was their leading scorer's absence more noticed than on the power play as the Rangers failed on all five opportunities in a 3-1 loss at Madison Square Garden. Not that their penalty kill was much better as Chris Stewart scored two power-play goals. "The penalty kill didn't do the job tonight," defenseman Marc Staal said. "The power play had scoring chances and was able to get some time in the zone. But we just couldn't get one by them and they were able to." The Rangers (1-2-1) had scored 13 goals in their first three games. "We had our chances offensively," right wing Ryan Callahan said. "I thought we were fore-checking well and we got some shots on net. It comes down to special teams." The Avalanche (4-2-0), completing a five-game road trip, clinched the game with goals 26 seconds apart in the third period against Henrik Lundqvist (31 saves), including Stewart's second power-play goal of the game to snap a 1-1 tie at 7:20 after Michael Del Zotto was called for tripping Kyle Cumiskey at 5:51. "I haven't looked at Michael's penalty but we have to kill it," coach John Tortorella said. "We had a chance to get the puck out and we didn't. It is kept in." Both Gaborik and captain Chris Drury, out six weeks with a broken left index finger, were injured in Friday's 4-3 overtime loss to the Maple Leafs in the home opener. Also Monday, the Rangers announced Vinny Prospal, last season's second-leading scorer, would be out an additional six to eight weeks after undergoing surgery on his right knee in the morning." http://www.northjersey.com/sports/p...ll_to_Avalanche_3-1_as_offense_struggles.html
