Pregame: Rangers Open Up Western Swing in Vancouver

The Rangers will be kicking off a three game Western Canada road trip that will last five days tonight in Vancouver. The Blueshirts head into the match with a 9-5-1 record after defeating the Boston Bruins at Madison Square Garden Sunday afternoon. Sunday's matinee turned out to be a huge bounce back effort after dropping two straight games earlier in the week. The Vancouver Canucks, who have been hit with many injuries, are currently 8-7-0, sitting in seventh place in the Western Conference. The 'Nucks have been playing very good hockey despite players like Roberto Luongo and Daniel Sedin out of the lineup due to injuries.

Before Sunday, the Rangers had the Injured Reserve list quite filled, but luckily for them Gaborik, Higgins, and Avery all returned to the lineup. That being said, there were several instances within the Boston game where the Rangers could have had a few more key individuals sitting out, but it looks as if the only one will be Enver Lisin. Lisin started Sunday's game on the first line, when he took a slap shot to the foot. The shot clearly affected Lisin, as he was very sluggish and later moved down to the third/fourth line.

So with Lisin out, Dane Byers will be playing in his third consecutive game as a Ranger. I will attempt to project tonight's lineup for the Rangers, but I am sure that Tortorella will make some last minute changes. For now, I know that Chris Higgins was being moved up to the first line to try and get him going, and it is also probable that Henrik Lundqvist will get the start.

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

Staal - Girardi
Redden - Gilroy
Del Zotto - Rozsival

Lundqvist

Scratch(es): Donald Brashear (sore hand), Enver Lisin (sore foot)
*subject to change

There are two reasons why I would think that Lundqvist will get the start against the Canucks tonight. The first being that he is coming off of his best performance of the season in shutting out the Bruins this past weekend, and the second being that the Rangers will be taking on the Oilers on Thursday, who have been shutout three out of their last five games, making it reasonable that Valiquette would get the nod. That is just how I see things, and I am not the coach, so I am not guaranteeing this, but it is probable that Lundqvist will be in goal for the Rangers.

I cannot say I am too happy with Higgins on the first line with Gabs and Prospal, but I can understand the where the thinking is coming from. Hopefully it will illuminate Higgins' dismal game and get him going, because it is almost at the point where it is pathetic that this guy does not have one goal. As for Gaborik, he will be looking for goal number twelve on the season, and the new alternate captain Prospal for assist number fifteen.

Captain Chris Drury has now been held scoreless in his last six games, so he, as well as Ryan Callahan and Brandon Dubinsky, will look to get things turned around and going in the right direction tonight. None of these three have been producing lately, and so far Marian Gaborik has covered their tracks with his scoring, but in order for this team to be deep offensively, these are the guys that the Rangers need to put up points. While Drury may have been good defensively against the Bruins, he is still a minus three on the season, due in part to his lack of goal scoring (2 goals in 14 games), but hey, it is still better than Higgins' goose egg, right?

The thing that worries me is that both of Drury's goals were created by other players, not himself. His first was off of a one-timer from Higgins, and the other was a deflection off of a Marc Staal shot. Come to think of it, I have barely seen Dru shoot the puck as of late. Overall, the Captain must be better or he will begin to face all of the criticism and more from last season all over again.

I really liked how the defense bounced back on Sunday, after their terrible efforts against the Isles and Wild. Matt Gilroy was exceptional in that game, as was Mike Del Zotto. The defense as a whole played a solid first period, which was a very good sign considering that has not been the case much in recent games. The same can be said of the second period.

Vancouver Canuck's Projected Lineup:

Samuelsson - Sedin - Burrows
Raymond - Kesler - Pettinger
Glass - Wellwood - Bernier
Hordichuk - Rypien - Bliznak

Mitchell - Salo
Bieksa - Rome
Ehroff - Edler

Raycroft

As I mentioned above, the Canucks will be without All-Star goaltender Roberto Luongo, as he is day-to-day with a rib injury. The meaning of Luongo to the 'Nucks is the equivalent of the meaning Lundqvist has to the Rangers, just to put things into perspective for you. Raycroft will be in net, and I would hope that the Rangers can apply all possible pressure on the back-up as they can.

The Canucks will also be missing forward Daniel Sedin, who has been placed on the IR for quite a while now. However, Vancouver still has a capable offensive squad with Henrik Sedin centering former Red Wing Mikael Samuelsson and Alex Burrows. The second and third lines consist of players like Mason Raymond, Ryan Kesler, and Steve Bernier, who all have the ability to put the puck in the net.

The Rangers must come out and take the early lead. It would put them in the best scenario on the road, and would immediately have the crowd doubting Raycroft,a s they are so used to Luongo. After that, it is all about consistency. The Blueshirts must continue the offensive pressure throughout the game, especially in the second period where the always seem to collapse.

Also, twitter updates will be available prior to the game if any lineup changes are reported. NOTE: Tonight's postgame coverage will be extremely brief compared to what you are used to due to the late start of the contest. I will simply lay out some basic thoughts from the game, and then will hopefully follow up with more later tomorrow.

(Images courtesy of AP Photo)