Pregame: Rangers Going for Three Straight Against 'Canes

The New York Rangers will be looking to win three straight games for the first time since mid-October when they clash with the last place Carolina Hurricanes tonight at the RBC Center. The Blueshirts, now in ninth place in the East with 35 points, will jump back into the playoff picture with a win against the Hurricanes, who are still in single digits in wins. Carolina sits at the bottom of the Conference with a record of 9-20-6 on the season, a shocker being that they were a playoff club just a year ago.

There will be two additions to the back-end for the Rangers tonight, as veteran Wade Redden will return after being a healthy scratch for the past two games, as will rookie Matt Gilroy, who was just recently recalled from the Hartford Wolf Pack after completing his assignment there. Forward Brian Boyle (back) will not play in this one due to a back injury suffered in Philadelphia on Saturday, so that means healthy scratch Ales Kotalik will also be in the lineup against the ‘Canes.

Rangers Projected Lineup

Prospal - Dubinsky - Gaborik
Higgins - Anisimov - Callahan
Avery - Drury - Lisin
Brashear - Christensen - Kotalik

Staal - Rozsival
Girardi - Del Zotto
Gilroy - Redden

Lundqvist

Scratches: Brian Boyle (back), Aaron Voros

Of course, Henrik Lundqvist will be in net for the Rangers while playing the best hockey we have seen from the Swedish goaltender all season. Hank stood on his head in the past two games to backstop his team to a victory. Unfortunately that will be the way he needs to play in order for this team to win games, most of the time anyway, being that they have an inexperienced blueline in front of him.

For Redden, the expectations are quite high with the coaching staff wanting to see him respond positively to the benching. As long as the effort is there, I am sure Torts will be satisfied, but if he begins to play that dull game that he has for the past month, he will be back to the press box with zero hesitation from the coach. It is a similar situation with Gilroy. As long as improvements in his battle level and aggressiveness are apparent, he should be safe on this team.

I think the best players on Saturday for the Blueshirts were Ryan Callahan, Artem Anisimov, Chris Drury, and Michal Rozsival. This particular group of individuals has not been producing as they may wish, but ever since Tortorella has applied the “no entitlement” policy, their games have changed drastically. Anisimov is skating very well, Callahan is managing the puck well, Drury is taking shots every chance he gets, and Rozsival is positionally sound. If the Rangers can get consistency from these specific players, it could potentially gain this team many more wins as well as take some of the load off of Lundqvist and Gaborik’s shoulders.

Hurricanes Projected Lineup

Whitney - Staal - Ruutu
Jokinen - Cullen - Samsonov
Dwyer - Sutter - Kostopoulos
Brind'Amour - Yelle - Walker

Pitkanen - Wallin
Alberts - A. Ward
Harrison - Carson

C. Ward

Like I said this morning, a quick start against the Hurricanes is crucial. I would like to see the Rangers start the same way they did in Philadelphia, and that means retrieving loose pucks, taking shots, and keeping play down in the offensive zone. If they can get on the frustrated team and fans early, they could very easily control the tempo of this tilt. It is simply a matter of execution.
(Photos courtesy of Getty Images)