Staying dirty will help raise Cup

THE Rangers spent the first round of the playoffs not only hitting back against the Canadiens, but hitting first; not only responding to the Habs’ physical game, but initiating physical play.

It was a sight to behold for generations of Rangerstown dwellers who have become accustomed to talented teams turning the other cheek to physically intimidating opponents.

But not this time.

This time, frogs turned into scorpions.

So the question is whether truculence now has become the Blueshirts’ nature or whether that was simply a guise adopted out of necessity that will recede back to the historical norm with round two and the Senators beckoning.

“Whether it was in character or out of character for us, I’m not sure I’d frame it that way, because I think we’ve done a really good job here for a long time of adapting in playoff series, which I think is a key,” Derek Stepan said. “But even when we’re at our most physical, we cannot lose the speed aspect of our game.

“That’s what we’re built on. That’s what AV has preached successfully since he’s gotten here. No matter how physical the series or how physically we play, we have to find the right balance between that and our speed and skillset.”

That’s AV, as in Alain Vigneault, who may not be Aesop and may not deal in fables, but said this about the nature of this second round that commences Thursday night in Canada’s capital city: “It’s going to be a battle of will every shift.”

The way the Rangers found success against Montreal was as subtle as a Ryan McDonagh crosscheck up high on Brendan Gallagher in front of the net. For once, the Rangers were every bit as mean as the other guys.

Oh, how that mindset might have benefitted the Emile Francis teams, whose hands were always clean at the end of those tournaments with the bullies from Boston and Philadelphia. The problem was, their hands were always empty, too, while the bad guys used theirs to hoist the Cup.

“We’re evolving into a more physical team and I don’t think we’re going to leave that behind,” Marc Staal said. “Obviously we’re playing a different team so we’ll make certain ad- justments, but we want to be a hard team to play against. “That’s not going to change.” The Senators present more skill and more skilled depth up front than the Canadiens did. They have the most skilled defenseman on the planet in Erik Karlsson, of whom Staal said, after observing No. 65 cramping late in his 41:51 performance in Ottawa’s double-overtime Game 5 loss to the Bruins, “I thought, ‘Thank goodness. He is human, after all.’ ”

But Ottawa has some heavy hitters as well, notably lined up down the left side of their defense in Marc Methot, Dion Phaneuf and Mark Borowiecki, who probably won’t play Thursday but is expected to rejoin the lineup early in the series after missing the final four games against the Bruins with a lower body injury. Up front, Zack Smith always seems to run around against the Rangers.

“You have a game plan, but you also have to be ready to take what series’ give you and I think that’s how teams succeed in the playoffs,” said Stepan, who has been a part of nine series victories. “We have superstars on our team, but we don’t rely on superstars taking over games. We’re team-oriented and built that way.

“I go back to what Marty [St. Louis] preaches about the importance of being able to make adjustments. That’s what he did as an individual to be able to succeed in the league for so long, and that’s what teams need to be able to do.”

Still, as the Rangers adapt to the Senators, they must be willing to present themselves as an ornery bunch ready to get their hands dirty. In the playoffs, when referees, by either edict or tradition, are reluctant to call penalties, the edge almost always goes to the team that’s willing to push the limits. In the playoffs, when referees always seem to make calls on retaliation, the ones who initiate almost always seem to come out on top.

The Blueshirts will have to play smart. They will have to maintain their discipline and composure. But they will also have to maintain the attitude that carried them to victory against the Canadiens.

“We’re going to be who we are,” Staal said.

They’re going to have to be scorpions.