When Marian Gaborik signed as a free agent in the offseason after spending his entire career with the Minnesota Wild, he knew the impact he had to have on Broadway.
Barring injuries, Gaborik was expected to be the go-to scorer and lead the offensively-minded system of Head Coach John Tortorella.
Thus far, with 27 points in 19 games, he has accomplished that and then some.
However, Gaborik can't be the sole source of offense for the Rangers, which was evidenced yesterday in their 4 - 2 loss to Washington where only Gaborik created any real offense and scored both Ranger goals.
Washington is a perfect comparison to the Rangers, as they rely heavily on Alex Ovechkin, but he doesn't always need to be the show.
Secondary scoring from players like Niklas Backstrom and Alex Semin take some scoring pressure off Ovechkin while drawing attention away from him as well.
Who do the Rangers have to compare to those types of players? Brandon Dubinsky helps create some space for Gaborik as does Vinny Prospal, but neither have the consistent scoring threat of a Semin or Backstrom.
Chris Higgins still hasn't found his finishing touch and newcomer Enver Lisin is still young and hasn't found the game-by-game consistency that being an elite scorer in the NHL requires.
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