Pregame: Rangers Urgent to End Drought in Ottawa

Here we are, game twenty of the regular season, which virtually means that the first quarter of hockey will conclude after this afternoon's 2 p.m. contest with the Ottawa Senators. Through nineteen games, the Blueshirts are 10-8-1, only two games over .500, and have dropped eight of their last eleven. The Ottawa Senators have played three less games than New York, and currently sit in eleventh place in the Eastern Conference with a record of 8-6-2. Both teams have lost their last game heading into this one.

After Thursday's troubles at center without Drury and Dubinsky in the lineup, John Tortorella decided that it would be best to recall P.A. Parenteau from Hartford, which would enable Chris Higgins to move to the center position---Just as I reported yesterday afternoon. With this, the lines, other than the first, have gone under some serious construction.

Rangers Projected Lineup:

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

Staal - Girardi
Del Zotto - Rozsival
Gilroy - Redden

Lundqvist

Henrik Lundqvist will be starting in goal for the Rangers today in Ottawa. This
will be Hank's second consecutive start since his seven day layoff due to a groin/thigh injury suffered almost two weeks ago. Lundqvist, in my eyes anyway, played well against the Thrashers on Thursday, but was at fault for the turnover that led to Evander Kane's tally late in the second period. His last start against the Sens was on October 3rd - Home Opener - in which he only allowed only two goals in a winning effort.

The first line of Lisin, Prospal, and Gaborik will be reunited after playing together earlier in the month. I know these three were supposed to play alongside one another on Thursday, but Tortorella made a quick pregame switch and put Callahan on the left wing, moving Lisin down to the third. Anyway, Lisin will be up with Gabs and Vinny today, and they are a fun trio to watch. The combination of Lisin's speed, Prospal's playmaking, and Gaborik's, well, everything make this line a tough one to shutdown, and the only reason they were split up after plying together earlier in the season was because Gaborik and Lisin both suffered injuries around the same time.

Chris Higgins will be moved to the center position on the second forward unit, a position he is familiar with from his Montreal years. With Higgins moving to center, P.A. Parenteau will move to the left wing and also will get some powerplay time according to Tortorella. Ales Kotalik, who displayed another solid effort against Atlanta, will remain on the the right wing on that line. This is being done because Brian Boyle did not match expectations in the face-off circle, losing eight of ten, and he needs to be moved back to the fourth line.

That means Artem Anisimov will be centering the third with Ryan Callahan and Sean Avery on his wings. Anisimov was one of the better players for the Rangers in the tilt with Atlanta, picking up his fourth goal on the season. The only reason I think Higgins will be a part of the second unit instead of Anisimov is simply because having Higgins with Aves and Cally is a line with three of the same player. Anisimov has more natural skill than Avery and Callahan and is not a grinder-type player, so I can understand why Higgins would get the nod over AA.

Brian Boyle will rejoin his mates on the fourth line in Donald Brashear and Aaron Voros, a threesome that worked very well on the forecheck in pre-season. Brashear finally won a fight as a Ranger on Thursday, beating Eric Bolton in a fight that lasted around sixty seconds or more. The fourth line did not get all that much ice time against Atlanta, so expect to see more of the same this afternoon.

The defense started off very slow on Thursday, due in part to the road-trip lag that was left over from the prior weekend. They left many gaps open, they did not clog the middle, and Ilya Kovalchuk was left wide open to often for my liking. I expect to see the Ranger blueline tighten up in this one, and be ready to play hockey from the drop of the puck, not just in the third period.

Senators Projected Lineup:

Michalek- Spezza - Alfredsson
Cheechoo - Fisher - Kovalev
Foligno - Regin - Shannon
Ruutu - Kelly - Neil

Phillips - Lee
Kuba - Campoli
Picard - Carkner

Leclaire

If the Rangers can restrict the first line for Ottawa, as well as get a lot of shots on Pascal Leclaire, it should be an easy win. Ottawa has struggled with depth, their defense hasn't been all that great, and Leclaire average. The Rangers are, without a doubt, a better team than the Sens, and could easily pull out another 5-2 win like we saw in the home opener back in October.

The Bluesirts, especially Lundqvist, are clearly fed up with losing based on recent statements printed by the media. This is a team that has more skill than last year, but so far they have not played up to their expectations, besides their beginning 7-1-0 run to start the season. We must keep are fingers crossed that things turn themselves around for New York today, before they dig themselves into a larger hole than they are already in.

(Images courtesy of Reuters Pictures)