Acoide to ranger their head coach was suspended because of ……

GREENBURGH, N.Y. — If the Rangers are to close out their Eastern Conference first-round series against the Capitals in Game 6 on Sunday afternoon at Madison Square Garden and avoid a deciding game in Washington two days later, they will have to do it without their coach, John Tortorella.

Tortorella was suspended for one game by the N.H.L. late Saturday because of a verbal confrontation he had with a fan behind the Rangers’ bench during the third period of the Rangers’ 4-0 loss Friday night in Washington. During the incident, Tortorella squirted a fan with water and threw a water bottle over the glass that struck another fan. Then he briefly brandished a stick before being restrained by the assistant Jim Schoenfeld.

A Capitals season-ticket holder, Charlotte Chandonia, told The Washington Post that she was struck by the bottle. “He was losing and he was frustrated, I guess,” Chandonia told The Post. “I couldn’t believe it. I looked up, and he was throwing the water bottle — and then it hit me right here, right in the head, and it bounced off me.”

Asked about the incident at the Rangers’ practice rink Saturday afternoon, Tortorella said, “I’ve been asked not to comment on that by my boss.”

Schoenfeld is expected to coach the team Sunday. He has playoff experience as a head coach with the Devils, the Capitals and the Phoenix Coyotes.

“While it is a difficult decision to suspend a coach at this point in a playoff series, it has been made clear to all of our players, coaches and other bench personnel that the National Hockey League cannot — and will not — tolerate any physical contact with fans,” the league’s disciplinarian, Colin Campbell, said in a statement.

Oddly, Tortorella’s outburst came after he sat Sean Avery because of his inability to control his temper in Games 3 and 4.

took six minor penalties in those games, four for throwing unilateral punches or for high sticking.

Tortorella also criticized the Rangers after Friday’s game for taking penalties. They gave up seven power plays, starting with Scott Gomez’s retaliatory slash 1 minute 16 seconds into the game, which set the tone for the team’s flat effort.