Whatever the coaching staff said after last weekend’s miserable effort certainly had an effect on the Rangers in last night’s stunning turnaround at MSG as they played a nearly flawless game in blanking the Atlanta Thrashers 4-0, to restore some sanity in this very difficult 2007-08 season. With some juggling of their top three lines, the Blueshirts came out with abundant energy and overwhelmed the Thrashers for almost the entire game. Offensive stars for the home team were Jaromir Jagr (a goal and two assists), Fedor Tyutin (a career-high three assists) and their most consistent player, Scott Gomez (a goal and an assist).

In the opening period, the Rangers started promisingly and Atlanta looked out of sync right from the start. The entire frame was played deep in the Thrashers’ zone and the contest seemed to be a mismatch. With an astounding shots-on-goal advantage of 16-4, the game rested on the shoulders of Kari Lehtonen, who received no support whatsoever from his supporting cast. In fact, Atlanta got its first shot on net with just over three minutes left in the period.

At 12:12, Sean Avery put New York on the board when he stuffed in a loose puck right in front of Lehtonen during a scramble (his fourth of the season). It was the kind of hardnosed goal that Rangers’ fans have not seen much of lately. A little over three minutes later, Brandon Dubinsky made a beautiful move and backhanded the puck past a faked out Lehtonen to double the Blueshirts’ advantage (his seventh). Both goals were assisted by Jagr. With seconds left in the period, Ilya Kovalchuk inexplicably left his feet and pounded Michal Rozsival into the boards. Cut and dazed for several seconds, Rozsival recovered and played again but Kovalchuk was assessed a major penalty and game misconduct.

Though the scoreboard didn’t indicate it, the Rangers played almost as well in the second, not letting up as they have been prone to do so often. Their only tally was a shorthanded one by Martin Straka at 8:36. The Thrashers made a terrible line change during their power-play and left their half of the ice vacant. Straka picked up the loose puck and skated in all alone on Lehtonen, and deked him for the easy score. It was the defining moment of the game.

When Jagr increased the lead to 4-0 early in the final frame with his 15th, the outcome was a foregone conclusion. Without their leading player and showing no desire to compete, the Thrashers couldn’t wait for the game to end. The only issue of importance was whether Henrik Lundqvist was going to earn his 7th shutout of the season and 14th career-wise. He did so with the greatest of ease as the Thrashers showed little determination. With just 14 shots for the entire game, Lundqvist was not a busy man. On the opposite side, Lehtonen was by far and away the most effective Thrashers’ member with 35 saves in a solid but losing effort.

The Rangers and Thrashers are back at it on Thursday night at the Garden. It will be a most emotional night as the Rangers celebrate the great Brian Leetch by retiring his number in the pre-game ceremonies.