RANGERS GET BIG JUMP, HOLD OFF WINGS AT MSG • PHOTO GALLERY

By Jim Cerny, newyorkrangers.com

The Rangers scored three goals in the first 11 minutes of the game, and held on to defeat the Detroit Red Wings 4-2 in preseason action Monday night at Madison Square Garden.

Vinny Prospal, Enver Lisin, and Ryan Callahan scored in the opening period for the Rangers, who are now 2-2-1 in the pre-season. Coming off a 5-2 victory in Boston on Saturday, the Rangers have won two in a row.

All-Star winger Marian Gaborik, who joined the Rangers as a free agent over the summer, had an assist for his new team in his 2009 preseason debut. • MORE PHOTOS

Among the most important aspects of Monday’s game was the preseason debut of the Rangers’ prized summer acquisition, winger Marian Gaborik. The talented Slovak, who signed with the Rangers as a free agent on July1, had missed the club’s first four preseason matches due to a tender groin muscle.

“He did some good things,” Rangers head coach John Tortorella said of Gaborik. “I think he’s going to add a dimension to our team that I think you need in winning, and that’s his creativity and just the dynamic player that he is.”

Gaborik received a warm greeting from The Garden Faithful when introduced as part of the Rangers starting lineup. And just 24 seconds later, he was welcomed back to game action when Detroit’s Johan Franzen knocked Gaborik to the ice with a clean, hard hit.

“First shift I get out there, haven’t had any games under my belt, I’m flying around, and then I think (the hit) really woke me up a little bit,” said Gaborik.

Not only did Gaborik get up quickly, he skated with authority on his first several shifts, providing speed and skill to the club’s group of forwards. Gaborik then provided a glimpse of things to come when he assisted on Lisin’s power-play goal nine minutes into the first period to give the Rangers a 2-0 lead.

Gaborik collected the puck along Detroit’s right-wing boards, skated back toward the blueline, curled away from a Red Wings player, and then sped behind the net and over to left wing. From there, with two Red Wings in pursuit, he whipped a perfect backhand pass to a wide-open Lisin, who scored from the slot.

There were other moments when Gaborik dazzled, as well, in particular in the third period. First Gaborik anticipated the play perfectly to intercept a breakout pass by Detroit at the 12-minute mark, leading to a prime scoring chance for Callahan. Then he was robbed of a goal by backup goaltender Dan Cloutier, who made a great right-pad save to deny Gaborik’s 10-foot backhander.

“I was nervous at the beginning,” said Gaborik, who led the team with five shots on goal. “But as the game went on I got used to things and felt better and better.”

Lisin, the 23-year-old Muscovite who has now played in five pre-season games and is tied for the team lead in goals scored with three, also played an impressive offensive game. It is something he has done consistently throughout the preseason, creating numerous scoring chances for himself and his linemates, while skating both on left wing and right wing, and on many different line combinations.

On Monday, Lisin skated at even strength with Chris Drury and Ales Kotalik. On the power play, with Kotalik playing the left point, Lisin and Drury were joined by Gaborik up front.

“The whole team has started playing better,” said Lisin. “It’s a team game, not an individual game, so it’s about partners, and we have so many good players. I scored, but that pass was unbelievable.”

Prospal, another key off-season acquisition by the Blueshirts, opened the scoring, netting a power-play goal 5:13 into the first period. It took him just three seconds to make Detroit goaltender Daniel Larsson pay for the goalie’s tripping penalty.

Prospal won the ensuing faceoff in the right-wing circle, collected the puck to the left of the circle, and zipped a shot past Larsson for an unassisted goal, his first of the preseason.

The Red Wings gave the Rangers plenty of opportunity to work on their power play, taking five minors in the first period of play. Prospal and Lisin both netted goals within the Rangers first three power plays. Overall the Blueshirts were two-for-eight with the man advantage on Monday night.

Callahan boosted the Rangers’ lead to 3-0 at 10:25 of the opening period after Evgeny Grachev stole the puck along the right-wing wall in the Red Wings zone. After coming away with the puck, Grachev fed Callahan, who did the rest. Callahan burst past one Wing and then moved the puck deftly from his backhand to his forehand before tucking the puck into the net.

Once again Henrik Lundqvist turned in a solid outing in goal for the Rangers. Making his third start of the preseason, Lundqvist played the opening 29:23 and faced 13 shots, allowing only one goal.

Lundqvist was particularly impressive in stopping all nine shots he faced over the first half of the second period once the Red Wings had picked up their overall play. In the opening frame, Detroit managed just four shots, though Ville Leino was able to score off a 2-on-1 against Lundqvist at 18:17 of the period.

The Rangers all-star netminder has allowed only two goals on 44 shots so far in the preseason.

“It feels good to just be out there and get the game feeling,” said Lundqvist. “It is just about being out there and getting the feel for it. We are getting closer (to the regular season). It is exciting.”

Steve Valiquette replaced Lundqvist near the midway point of the second period. Making his third appearance of the preseason, Valiquette faced seven shots the remainder of the middle stanza and looked sharp in stopping each and every one. Overall, he denied 16 of the 17 shots he faced.

Perhaps Valiquette’s best save came five minutes into the third period when he sticked aside a slap shot with Tomas Holmstrom camped right in front of him providing a perfect screen.

Detroit’s Kirk Maltby beat Valiquette with a pinpoint shot from left wing at 9:34 of the third period to cut the Rangers’ lead to 3-2. Justin Abdelkader slid a pass from behind the net to Maltby, who fired a rising shot that beat Valiquette to the short side.

Rookie center Artem Anisimov scored his third goal of the pre-season, into an empty net, with 14.8 seconds left to play to ice the game for the Blueshirts.

Tortorella said after the game that he might trim the roster by two more players on Tuesday, to get down to 23 players remaining in camp.

“We’ve got a logjam to figure out who makes it and who fits where,” said Tortorella. “There’s still a competition here.”

Tortorella also announced following the game that winger Sean Avery had suffered a sprained knee in a collision at practice earlier on Monday, but the injury is not considered to be serious.

The Rangers return to preseason action on Thursday night at The Garden when they host the Washington Capitals.