Pregame: Rangers Host Caps in Ovechkin's Return

The New York Rangers will be hosting the Washington Capitals at Madison Square Garden tonight for the first time since the 2009 Playoffs last April. However, the two clubs met earlier in the season in D.C., when Marian Gaborik scored two late goals in the third period to give the Blueshirts an edge over the Caps 4-3. Tonight will be a bit different, as both teams now have twenty games under their belts and are well aware of each other's strengths and weaknesses, as opposed to the contest just a week into the 09-10 season in October when both were still getting to know their rosters.

The Rangers have been on a bit of a slide lately, going 4-5-1 in their last ten, but luckily broke a two game losing streak with a somewhat fortunate 2-1 shootout victory over the Ottawa Senators on Saturday. The Capitals, on the other hand, are currently sitting in second place in the Eastern Conference with 28 points and have a record of 12-4-4 on the season. Washington has played their last six games Ovechkin-less, as the superstar was handicapped with an upper body injury since November first. Nonetheless, they were still able to come out on top in four of those six games, and will have their top player back in the lineup tonight against the Rangers.

Head coach John Tortorella had the exact same offensive line combinations together in practice yesterday as they were in Ottawa when they visited the Senators, which implies that will be the case tonight, or at least something close to it. Chris Drury (concussion) and Brandon Dubinsky (broken hand) will once again be out with injuries, but that really goes without saying at this point.

Rangers Projected Lineup:

Lisin - Prospal - Gaborik
Parenteau - Higgins - Kotalik
Avery - Anisimov - Callahan
Brashear - Boyle - Voros

Staal - Girardi
Redden - Gilroy
Del Zotto - Rozsival

Lundqvist

Henrik Lundqvist will start in his third consecutive game coming off of a spectacular performance on Saturday in Ottawa. There is no doubt that the Rangers would have been out of that game if it it wasn't for their all-star goaltender, and that could be looked upon as both a good and a bad thing. Good because Hank basically "stole" the game, and bad because this team relied heavily on him and that is not the game-plan heading into these tilts. I do not care how good Lundqvist may be, there is still a squad of players in front of him that have jobs to do as well--it all can't sit on Henrik's shoulders.

Enver Lisin will once again be skating with shield tied into his boot to prevent his injured foot from being re-aggravated. Lisin mentioned that he has had a very tough time turning and stopping, as those actions cause him a great amount of pain, but at the same time, it has gotten better and the protective shield helps the cause.

Marian Gaborik has now recorded points in sixteen of eighteen games played so far this season, and that includes 13 goals and 12 assists for 25 points which sees the Slovakian phenom placed second in the league in scoring. Gaborik's partner in crime has been center Vinny Prospal, who has 21 points in 20 games played and points in three of his last five. As I stated yesterday, these two have accounted for about forty percent of the Rangers production, meaning that they will have to play a big part in the offense is the Blueshirts have any hope of defeating the Capitals tonight.

Marc Staal has been surprisingly putrid as of late in all areas of the game. Giveaways, positioning, misplays have all been a part in Staal's struggles and because of this, Tortorella has elected to better manage the young blueliner's ice time. This means that Wade Redden, who has been solid in his own zone, will be played in more situations than he is used to in place of Staal, including on the powerplay.

Washington Capitals Projected Lineup:

Ovechkin - Backstrom - Semin
Laich - Morrison - Fehr
Laing - Steckel - Gordon
Clark - Perreault - Bradley

Green - Pothier
Poti - Erskine
Morrisonn - Sloan

Varlamov

As noted above (and earlier this morning), Alex Ovechkin will be back in the lineup for the Caps after missing six straight games with an injury. OV has 14 goals in fourteen games for Washington so far this season. Semyon Varlamov, who played a big part in the first-round elimination of the Rangers last year, will get the call in goal as starter Jose Theodore stayed in D.C. for personal reasons. Also, various reports say that Alex Semin is not guaranteed to return tonight, but there still is a chance.

As fans, we must hope and pray that the Ranger defense brings their game up to the next level tonight against an offensive-potent Capitals team. The Rangers blueline has been full of errors lately, and with a team like Washington, you are playing with fire if you plan on making such mistakes. The back-end for the Caps is there weakness and the obvious are that the Blueshirts need to attack any chance they get.

As a side note, the Rangers Tribune will be in attendance at the Garden for this contest, so the postgame analysis will most likely be up a bit later than normal, but I will have it completed sometime tonight. Also, the game will be televised on VERSUS---check your local listings for details.

(Images courtesy of AP Photo)