Yandle coming on — or maybe going out — strong

KEITH Yandle simultaneously makes himself more valuable to the Rangers and more attractive to potential trade suitors when he plays the way he did in Tuesday night's 3-2 OT victory over Vancouver.

“Sometimes it takes a game where you’ve got to look yourself in the mirror,” said Yandle, who set up Mats Zuccarello’s game-tying goal in the third period and played a season-high 23:33. “I thought we did a good job of responding from the last game in Washington.”

Yandle took unnecessary risks and committed critical turnovers in Sunday night’s 5-2 loss in Washington, and Alain Vigneault said Yandle made clear to the coaching staff that “his game in Washington wasn’t to his liking.”

“We had discussed it this morning that we were expecting a big bounce-back game on his part, which we did get tonight,” Vigneault said. “He was real solid with the puck. I thought he beat their forecheck any time they wanted to establish it. He allowed us to come out of the zone clean. That’s what we need from him on a nightly basis."

Yandle, 29, is a trade candidate before the NHL’s Feb. 29 deadline because of his expiring contract and the raise he’ll command from his current $5.25 million salary. GM Jeff Gorton won’t want to lose Yandle for nothing in free agency, but if the team starts winning and Yandle plays well consistently, the GM could keep him because he feels the veteran blue liner gives his team a better chance of advancing deep in the playoffs. Yandle told the Daily News he doesn’t want to leave. He’s a popular player with his teammates and his wife and two young daughters call Tribeca home.

“As soon as I got traded here I was all in, my family was all in,” Yandle said Tuesday morning. “My life, the day-to-day situation I’m in is great. I have a lot of fun coming to the rink. I try not to listen to (the noise), but it happens every year with different names. It’s something (for the media) to talk about. I love my situation here, though. I love playing here, being here.”