Pregame: Rangers in Edmonton for Reunion with Renney

It has been just over eight months since the New York Rangers fired former head coach Tom Renney and brought in the fiery John Tortorella. Over the summer, Renney went to the Edmonton Oilers organization where he now finds himself as the team's assistant coach to Pat Quinn. Tonight will be the first time that the Rangers will be in contact with Renney ever since the firing, and although the players may not have made a big deal of it, it sure means a whole lot to Renney.

The Rangers are currently 4-5-1 in their last ten games, and have developed a sudden problem of not being able to put the puck in the net. The Blueshirts are coming off of a 4-1 loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday night, in which the offense just was not a factor. This is due in part to the great defensive efforts by Vancouver to shut down Marian Gaborik. The Oilers play a solid defensive game, so you can bet we will see players all over Gaborik once again.

Edmonton is now 7-7-1 on the season, and have lost their last two games. Much like the Rangers, the Oilers are not scoring goals, and have been shutout in three of their last five games. Sound Familiar? This was a major problem when Renney was in New York, and one of the numerous reasons he was let go.

There will be several changes to the Rangers lineup tonight from Tuesday in VAN. First off, as I reported earlier, Steve Valiquette will be in goal for New York. Enver Lisin will also return to the lineup after sitting out on Tuesday due to a sore foot. In addition to this, Tortorella has jumbled the lines again as noted below.

Tonight's Projected Lineup for the Rangers:

Prospal - Dubinsky - Gaborik
Lisin - Drury - Callahan
Higgins - Anisimov - Kotalik
Avery - Boyle - Voros

Staal - Girardi
Redden - Gilroy
Del Zotto - Rozsival

Valiquette

Scratch(es): Donald Brashear (sore hand), Dane Byers (suspended)

Tortorella has elected to reunite Brandon Dubinsky with Marian Gaborik and Vinny Prospal, which is how it was to begin the season. While looking for some production on Tuesday, Torts threw these three together, and the trio responded with some good pressure in the offensive zone. They were on fire to begin the season, but then began to fade off, particularly Dubi, which is why things were changed up. Remember, though, that this was the Rangers' first line when they went on their seven game winning streak in early October.

Enver Lisin will be grouped with Chris Drury and Ryan Callahan, two players that have struggled, but seem to be turning things around based on their recent play. Drury broke a lengthy scoreless drought with an assist the other night, and Ryan Callahan has finally woke up and has begun to do what he is most known for, grind and create chances. Adding Lisin to this line will undoubtedly add speed to the unit, but we will see if the Russian winger is 100 percent after taking a shot to the foot this past Sunday.

Another line that Tortorella concocted randomly was Artem Anisimov centering Higgins and Kotalik. Surprisingly, these players skated very well with each other, and had sustained pressure several times within the second and third periods in Vancouver. Higgins finally registered his first of the season/as a Ranger, and I am now very anxious to see how he responds and if he will take off from here.

The Ranger defense was caught more than once making the same mistake the other night, and that was following the puck. A majority of the players were all going to the puck carrier, leaving someone wide open in front of the net. It was the case for at least two of the four Canuck goals, and cannot occur again in this one.

Oilers Projected Lineup:

Penner - Gagner - Hemsky
Jacques - O'Sullivan - Nilsson
Moreau - Cogliano - Pisani
Comrie - Brule - Stortini

Gilbert - Grebeshkov
Chorney - Visnovsky
Staios - Strudwick

Khabibulin

Dustin Penner has been on a roll for the Oilers and is currently sitting seventh in the league in points with 19, tied with our own Marian Gaborik. Penner has a great young center in Sam Gagner as well as a solid winger in Ales Hemsky to compliment him, so this is the line that will create the most problems for the Rangers. In net, I would assume that Nik Khabibulin will be between the pipes for Edmonton. Khabibulin has struggled a bit as an Oiler, as he holds a Goals Agianst Average of over three.

The goal for the Rangers is to get out to a quick start for two reasons. The first being that Edmonton has lost their past two, so the Rangers scoring will surely take away their confidence and will get the fans on them. Secondly, if Edmonton gets the early lead, they will protect it for the entire game, and the Rangers do not want to be playing catch-up at Rexall Place tonight.

(Photos courtesy of Reuters Pictures and Getty Images)