Sometimes, the best lessons are the ones that are self-taught.

Following an uncharacteristically subpar performance in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, in which Dan Girardi was on the ice for all five goals in the Rangers’ 5-2 loss, head coach John Tortorella opted not to have a meeting with the top pair defenseman.

“I didn’t even talk to him,” Tortorella said in his Tuesday morning press conference at the Garden in the hours prior to Game 3. “He’s going to play his best game.”

Long one of the Rangers’ leaders, Girardi has earned Tortorella’s confidence with his play and reliability.

“It depends on the person,” Tortorella said. “It depends where he is as a player, experience-wise. I don’t have to say one word to Dan Girardi. If that’s a John Moore, certainly we will try to help him along the way – maybe show him so tape, whatever it may be.

“With [Girardi], he’s one of the better defensemen in the National Hockey League that had a tough night. He knows it. He doesn’t need to hear it from any coach at all as far as what needs to be done.”

No need to hold serve?

The popular thinking is that the Rangers need to win the next two games at home to get back into the series.

Unsurprisingly, Tortorella dismissed the notion.

“I’m looking at this as one game,” Tortorella said, when asked about the prospects of the Rangers coming back from an 0-2 deficit for the second straight series. “We just want to win a game and crawl back in to make it a series. So all of the stuff as far as the history and what we did the last time, we’re not paying attention to it.

“We made corrections [at Monday’s practice in Greenburgh, N.Y.]. We felt we played a pretty good hockey game [Sunday afternoon]. It certainly wasn’t a 5-2 game. We want to win a game and we’ll see where we go.”

Powe, Staal updates

Darroll Powe and Marc Staal were part of a group of players that participated in the optional skate at the Garden Tuesday morning. Both Powe and Staal have not played since Game 3 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinal series against the Capitals.

As per organizational policy, the Rangers have not announced the reasons for their absence. Powe was elbowed in the head by Washington’s Joel Ward during Game 3 of that series when the Rangers center checked the Capitals right wing into the boards.

Staal has been sidelined with a potential reoccurrence of symptoms from the eye injury he suffered in the 4-2 win over the Flyers on March 5. The defenseman was struck near the eye by a Kimmo Timonen shot.

“Feel good. It’s good to be back on the ice, skating with the guys,” Powe said. “It’s a few days of skating. I felt pretty good. I’m just skating, working out and try to get back in the lineup. The goal is to get back as soon as I can.”

Staal was unavailable for comment.

Follow Rangers beat writer Denis Gorman on Twitter @DenisGorman.

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The Rangers trail the Capitals, 2-0, in the best-of-seven series, and have scored only one goal in 128 minutes in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals.

For many coaches, it would be cause for concern. Head coach John Tortorella is not most coaches.

“I think [the first two games] have been a hell of a lot more even than a lot of other people think,” Tortorella said in his morning press briefing before Monday night’s Game 3 at The Garden. “I think we’re close. I will put it to you that way.”

Part of the basis for Tortorella’s belief is that the Rangers have generated 60 shots on goal in the first two games, including Rick Nash hitting the post midway through a scoreless third period Saturday afternoon.

“Playoff series [are about] momentum [shifts] within the game,” Tortorella said “What if Rick Nash scores his goal in the third period [of Game 2]? [The momentum] changes.”

Most likely, Saturday’s games does change if Nash scores. But what did happen was Mike Green blasted a slap shot past Henrik Lundqvist eight minutes into overtime, and now the Rangers are in a must-win game.

“We need to win a game and that is all we are thinking about,” Tortorella said. “It means squat if you don’t win.”

Nearing full strength

Will the Rangers have all hands on deck Monday night?

Thirteen players participated in the optional morning skate at The Garden, including defenseman Marc Staal and left wing Ryane Clowe.

Staal has not played since March 5, when he suffered an eye injury when he was struck in the face by a Kimmo Timonen slap shot. Clowe has missed the last three games with an undisclosed injury suffered in the 4-3 overtime in Carolina on April 25.

“I feel pretty good,” Clowe said after the skate. “I [felt] pretty good out there. Obviously you guys want to know if I’m going to play tonight but I’m not sure.”

The Rangers acquired Clowe from San Jose on April 2. In 12 games with the Blueshirts, Clowe recorded three goals and eight points.

“Like anyone else at this time of year, no one is 100 percent. But when I come back I’ll definitely feel capable of doing everything that I think I can bring or the style I can play, which is obviously a physical style. I think that’s the key point I’m looking at here,” Clowe said. “Whenever guys come back, they’re not going to come back and put themselves at risk, even though we’re all tough guys and play through injuries. But more than anything, guys look at how they can help the team.”

Staal was unavailable for comment.

Follow Rangers beat writer Denis Gorman on Twitter @DenisGorman.

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The New York Rangers announced late Wednesday afternoon that defenseman Marc Staal will be out indefinitely after being examined by two eye specialists.

Dr. Mark Fromer, an ophthalmologist, and Dr. Mendel Markowitz, a maxillofacial surgeon saw Staal, who was struck near the right eye by a shot off the stick of Flyers defenseman Kimmo Timonen 5:45 into the third period of the Rangers’ 4-2 win Tuesday night at the Garden.

Staal dropped to the ice and clutched at his face. He was helped off the ice and did not return to the game. He was not at his stall when the dressing room was open to reporters. Head coach John Tortorella, Ryan Callahan, Henrik Lundqvist and Dan Girardi each used the word “scary” to describe the injury.

According to the statement, Staal’s injury — as per team policy, it was undisclosed — had “improved significantly and both doctors are optimistic Marc will make a full recovery.”

Staal’s older brother, Eric, a center for the Hurricanes, told NHL.com he spoke on the phone with the defenseman Wednesday morning.

“It’s hard to say now. They’re just waiting for the swelling to go down. He sounded like he was in OK spirits but we don’t know a lot right now,” Eric Staal said. “Obviously we’re saying prayers and hoping he dodged a bullet as far as being struck in that area. We’ll know more with some more time.

“It’s scary to see. It’s an awful feeling and it made me sick to my stomach seeing him in that pain with his legs kicking. But, it was good to talk to him [Wednesday] and, hopefully, everything is going to be OK.”

Marc Staal does not wear a visor. Neither does Eric or their brother, Jordan, a center for the Hurricanes. Visors are not mandatory in the NHL.

However, in recent years there has been increased awareness of the fragility of eyes. Ian Laperriere’s playing career ended, for all intents and purposes, after he was struck by a slap shot off the stick of New Jersey defenseman Paul Martin above the eye in Game 5 of the 2010 Eastern Conference quarterfinal at the Prudential Center. Laperriere suffered a concussion and nerve damage to eye, and needed 60 stitches to close a cut.

Laperriere returned to the Flyers lineup for the final two games of the Eastern Conference final and played in the six-game Stanley Cup final loss to Chicago, but the lingering effects from the injury forced him to retire. He is now the Director of Player Development for the Flyers.

Defenseman Chris Pronger’s career has been essentially derailed after he was high-sticked in the eye by Toronto center Mikhail Grabovski in a game in October 2011. Pronger has not played since, as he has experienced post-concussion symptoms.

Neither Laperriere nor Pronger wore visors.

In a sit-down interview with Sportnet.ca’s Dan Murphy, Pronger said the injury has limited his peripheral vision.

“That so-called sixth sense, I used to really have a good one. Now, I couldn’t feel anybody coming around a corner. My kids scare me all the time. That used to be what I was known for: knowing where everybody was, having a feel for who was around me. Now I don’t have that.”

Follow Rangers beat writer Denis Gorman on Twitter @DenisGorman.

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