Rip the refs? Get fined. Kick a player? Get warned.



Henrik Lundqvist undoubtedly will — and should — be fined for accusing the referees of having a pro-Senators agenda in the Rangers' 3-2 win in Game 6 Monday night. But Ottawa's Milan Michalek escaped with only a warning from the NHL for kicking Rangers defenseman Dan Girardi during a third-period scrum.



"No comment," John Tortorella said of Michalek's actions during a conference call with his team off Tuesday, two days before Game 7 at the Garden.



Video replay of Monday night's controversial scrum in Lundqvist's crease with 39 seconds left in the third period not only revealed Ottawa's Chris Neil kicking the puck into the net to draw the Senators to within a goal, but also revealed Michalek at the bottom of the pile kicking Girardi in the thigh.



Hurricanes forward Jeff Skinner got two games for similarly kicking the Blues' Scott Nichol along the boards on March 15.



Skinner's infraction was more obvious than Michalek's, and the Sens forward was responding to a glove to the face by Ryan Callahan, but he nevertheless intended to kick an opponent, so the absence of discipline is confusing.



Monday in Game 6, frustration built on both benches with referees Steve Kozari and Tim Peel, and it boiled over during and following the late-game pile-up.



Michalek skated away with no consequences. Neil kicked at the puck with his skate. Then Lundqvist lost it in a postgame interview over the referees' inability to whistle Neil for goaltender interference as the Senator jammed his stick into the goalie's gut, interfering with his ability to make the save.



"It's an absolute joke. Oh my God. It scares me," Lundqvist ranted. "When it's such an obvious play, goalie interference and a kick, and they still call it a goal? It scares me that someone can call that. It's just unbelievable. It still upsets me, because we have this game, and then they get a chance. Someone wants them back in the game obviously, because there's no other explanation, I think."



Tortorella also would not comment on Neil's threat toward Michael Del Zotto for the Rangers defenseman's hit with 5:30 remaining in the third that caught the Senator admiring his own pass.



"I'm sure I'll catch him with his head down one of these times," Neil said.



The Blueshirts coach talked instead about his thoughts on Game 7, the Rangers' first at the Garden since the 1994 Stanley Cup Finals.



"My thought is to win it," Tortorella said. "And as far as (this being the first) Game 7 at Madison Square Garden since 1994, it doesn't affect anything we do. We're going into a Game 7 with an opportunity to win a hockey game based on our game last night. That's all we're concerned about."



Tortorella said he's encouraged by the mind-set of rookie Chris Kreider, and he's also seen marked improvement from 21-year-old center Derek Stepan and even signs of life from the young Del Zotto.



"I felt real good in Game 5, I wanted to try to carry that over," said Stepan, who had no points in the first five games of the series but put seven shots on net in Game 6, helping him to gain confidence. "I didn't get results. But I felt my game was a lot better than the first four, and I just wanted to try and continue to play."