Pregame: Which Rangers Will Show Up Against 'Canes?

Obviously the talk around the locker room will be about redemption tonight as the New York Rangers are coming off of their worst loss of the season at the hands of the Philadelphia Flyers. In this game, it will be the 30th place Hurricanes, which the Blueshirts defeated 3-1 just over a week ago, in Raleigh, North Carolina. We have been in this position before. The team plays with an extremely poor effort, but then they get a chance to bounce back the very next day. However, New York should come away with a win in this one, which is expected of them, but a single win will not solve all of their problems.

What we saw yesterday was nothing but a disgrace, and until I see three, four, five straight wins from the Rangers, they have not redeemed themselves by any means. Thankfully tonight’s tilt is on away ice, because John Tortorella’s squad is just 2-8-2 in their last twelve games at Madison Square Garden. That is pathetic considering they are playing in the world’s most famous arena, in front of the some of the world’s most dedicated fans. That gives them not one ounce of jump or energy in their game, it is just another match-up that they must play in order to collect their salary.

Anyway, the lineup for tonight’s game, other than Henrik Lundqvist in goal, is uncertain at the moment and is up in the air. That being said, I just have up what we saw towards the end of yesterday’s contest, which led to Chris Higgins being removed from the first line just as expected. If something else surfaces between now and 8 p.m., I will have it up.

Rangers Projected Lineup

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

Staal - Rozsival
Redden - Gilroy
Del Zotto - Girardi

Lundqvist

Scratches: Vinny Prospal (knee), Aaron Voros

Henrik Lundqvist had a rough outing, errr, period last night for the Rangers. Three out of eleven shots got past the Swedish netminder. Again, the defense was not there for him, but he should have made saves on at least one of the three.

The offense was not going hard to the net, but looked rather satisfied being held to the perimeter and taking outside shots. You are not going to score that way, and I am pretty sure we have been going over this quite often on the site. During the four-game winning stretch, all forwards were crashing the net and picking up rebounds. That is one of the major points in coach John Tortorella’s offensive system, yet it is so rare of an occurrence that we actually see it happen.

The Blueshirts’ Blueline was simply atrocious. The positioning was awful, they did not take the body, and players were constantly left wide open at the goalmouth. I mean, that is pee-wee hockey basics right there and they aren’t being executed correctly by professionals. That is more of a mental mistake than anything, so I believe if this defense can improve their mentality here, they will have the ability to play much better.

Hurricanes Projected Lineup

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

Pitkanen - Ward
Wallin - Gleason
Alberts - Carson

Ward

This game will be no walk in the park. Yes, they will likely bounce back with a solid effort, but I am not sure the win will come easily to them. The Hurricanes are coming off of a 6-3 toppling of the Washington Capitals, meaning they have an advantage in confidence over the crushed Rangers. We will see how this one turns out, but in case the team displays a lifeless performance yet again, I will say Happy New Year to all the readers now so I do not forget to in the midst of an angry postgame later tonight.
(Photos courtesy of Getty Images)