Pregame: Rangers Return to Action Against Thrashers at MSG

Coming off of a four day layoff at the conclusion to their western Canada road-trip, the Rangers will be back at it tonight at Madison Square Garden, where they will host the Atlanta Thrashers for the first time this season. The Blueshirts, now with a 10-7-1 record through eighteen games, have fallen to fifth place in the Eastern Conference with 21 points. New York has dropped seven of their last ten, and have only gained points in four games during that stretch. Meanwhile, the Atlanta Thrashers have posted a 7-6-1 record on the season, and have struggled as of late without star winger Ilya Kovalchuk.

Tonight's contest will mark the first of several that the Rangers will be without two key centers in Chris Drury and Brandon Dubinsky. With this, rookie Artem Anisimov and 6-7 Dan Boyle will each be upgraded to a higher line than what they have been used to playing on. Drury and Dubinsky are the only two that will be scratches tonight, as Enver Lisin, Donald Brashear, and Henrik Lundqvist will return to the lineup after missing previous games due to injury.

Rangers Projected Lineup:

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

Staal - Girardi
Redden - Gilroy
Del Zotto - Rozsival

Lundqvist

Scratch(es): Chris Drury (concussion), Brandon Dubinsky (broken hand)

As I posted and tweeted earlier, Henrik Lundqvist will be back in net for the Rangers after missing two games in eight days due to what was either a thigh or groin problem suffered last week in Vancouver, or sometime before then for that matter. Lundqvist's last start came in Vancouver over a week ago, when he would eventually allow three goals in a 4-1 loss to the Canucks. It was questionable whether or not Hank would be starting coming into the day, but it was confirmed shortly after this morning's optional skate that he would, in fact, be between the pipes for the first time in over a week.

Now, here is the deal with the center position being that Drury and Dubisnky will obviously not be playing. John Tortorella has elected to not make any call-ups from Hartford for the occasion, so instead, we will see Vinny Prospal, Artem Anisimov, and Brian Boyle all rotating between centering their own line, as well as the fourth line.

So basically, all three centermen will be double-shifting at some point in this game. Like I mentioned above, Prospal will move back to center on the first line with Marian Gaborik and Enver Lisin. Artem Anisimov will move up from the third line to center the second, while Boyle will do the same but is going from fourth to third. If this does not work, which I am quite sure it will, then Torts will be forced to bring up a forward from Hartford tomorow, but for now, this is how things will be run.

I like how John Tortorella is re-uniting Enver Lisin with Marian Gaborik and Vinny Prospal, as the three played well together prior to Lisin's foot injury. They were moving the puck very well, and between Gabs and Lisin, the line had a lot of speed. I also liked Prospal better while playing at center than when he was at wing, so it is good to see him back in the middle of Enver and Marian.

I am very excited when it comes to the new second offensive unit. Rookie Artem Anisimov will be centering two hot players in Ales Kotalik and Chris Higgins. Higgins has really began to pick up his game after going through a fifteen game slump, and Kotalik, for the most part, has been scoring at a consistent pace ever since the season's start. This will also present Anisimov with a prime opportunity to show what he has got, and maybe add to his three goal total on the season.

The defense as a whole has improved, not dramatically, but progress has been made. I know have been repeating this quite often, but this team's best defense is its offense, so as long as the Rangers can sustain a strong forecheck down the other end like in the Edmonton game, the defense and the goaltending will be in good shape.

Thrashers Projected Lineup:

Kovalchuk (?) - Antropov - Afinogenov
Kozlov - White - Little
Kane (?) - Peverley - Armstrong
Boulton - Reasoner - Thorburn

Hainsey - Bogosian
Enstrom - Kubina
Schubert - Salmela

Hedberg

I put question marks next to Russian star Kovalchuk and first round draft pick Kane because both of them have been suffering from day-to-day injuries this past week, and I am getting word that both will be gametime decisions for the Thrashers. With that being said, this is Thrasher team that is more skilled than last year with the additions of former Ranger Nik Antropov and former Sabre Maxim Afinogenov on offense.

Goaltending remains a weakness for the Thrashers with Hedberg as their starter, but under-rated talent lies in the youngster Zach Bogosian as well as Ron Hainsey and Pavel Kubina on defense, which can aid in covering up the downsides of Hedberg. The Rangers will need to apply as much pressure as possible on Hedberg and the young Thrashers, as the team has been known to bust once the opposition takes control of the tilt.

Any updates prior to the drop of the puck will be up on my Twitter.....
(Images courtesy of AP Photo and Reuters Pictures)