It didn’t take long to determine how the Rangers would respond to their five day respite yesterday afternoon against the streaking Buffalo Sabres. Just ten seconds after the puck was dropped at center ice, Sean Avery beat Ryan Miller (his first of two on the afternoon) to give the Rangers a very early 1-0 lead; it was the quickest goal ever scored at Madison Square Garden, eclipsing Phil Esposito’s record of scoring just 12 seconds in during a March 1978 game.

Before 13 minutes had elapsed, the Blueshirts had four tallies, overwhelmed the Sabres and got rid of a very ineffective Miller en route to a superb 5-1 victory. First star of the game Brandon Dubinsky was the other offensive contributor with a goal and two assists and Henrik Lundqvist (in his first game since signing his six-year $41.25 million contract) did a great job, making 29 saves.

Avery’s quick opening tally was the result of Dubinsky attacking the net right off the face-off. His shot was stopped by Miller but the rebound was banged home to the delight of the partisan crowd. Only four minutes later, Ryan Callahan knocked in a rebound of Martin Straka’s shot (the assist to Straka was his 700th career point). The Blueshirts were well on their way but could not expect that Miller was about to give up two very weak goals to double their lead to four.

Just past the nine minute mark, Dubinsky skated in with Jaromir Jagr and sent an ordinary backhander on net while Brian Campbell was draped all over him. The puck somehow squeezed between Miller’s pads to give the home team a 3-0 lead. It was a terrible effort by Miller and killed his team’s chances. If that wasn’t bad enough, at 12:25, Brendan Shanahan (playing for the first time in six games) sent a rising shot from the right circle that sailed over Miller’s shoulder. He had an unobstructed view and should have easily repelled the shot.

With four goals on just 11 shots, Miller’s day was over; Jocelyn Thibault replaced him and stopped the first period carnage. The only other Rangers’ goal came in the second when Avery scored at 7:47; his eighth of the season. It was the only goal of the period and the Blueshirts went to the locker room with a commanding 5-0 lead after 40 minutes.

The final frame was purely a formality as the Rangers were on cruise control. The Sabres had several chances and finally broke up Lundqvist’s shutout bid at 13:02 when Thomas Vanek converted on the power-play. The Rangers outshot the Sabres barely by a 32-30 margin which indicated how poorly Miller played in the net.

The San Jose Sharks are in town for a Sunday afternoon match; it’s time for the Blueshirts to make an impact versus the Western Conference.