Redden and Brashear Skate, Avery back to First Line

In the last practice before the New York Rangers head out to Chicago to play the Blackhawks tomorrow night, both Wade Redden (shoulder) and Donald Brashear (hand) skated with the team earlier today, says Andrew Gross of Ranger Rants. No definite answer if either will play in Wednesday's contest, but will most likely be gametime decisions. Redden has not participated in a game since being hit hard by Oreskovich of the Florida Panthers on November 25, and Brashear since November 28th in Pittsburgh. Defenseman Ilkka Heikkinen will make the trip to Illinois just in case.

“It felt pretty good with the little bit of contact I had,” said Redden, who last participated in contact drills last Thursday, when it was determined he wasn’t ready to return to the lineup yet. “It’s a good sign.”

There have been a lot of complaints about Tortorella's constant jumbling of the lines, including from myself, but the head coach is looking to keep Sean Avery on the first line with Marian Gaborik and Vinny Prospal for a lengthy amount of time, not just a few shifts. Avery has been one of the best players on the ice for the Rangers for over three weeks now, not to mention his effectiveness when playing with Gabs and Vinny. The line is perfect mainly because it contains a bit of everything; a pure sniper, a playmaker, and a grinder. I look at it as a 3 in 1 package that is complete and has the potential to succeed.

“I think Sean has created a lot of offense with those two - I just don’t think Vinny or Gabby played that well against Detroit,” Tortorella said. “We can try 10 different people there, they just had one of those games they didn’t play that well. That’s going to happen. "

Meanwhile, Gaborik and Prospal are currently involved in a mini-slump with a combined one point in the last two games. No, this may not be considered a slump for some, but for players like this who put points on the board almost nightly, things have been slow. However, it is not particularly their fault as team defenses are zoning in on both of these players, specifically Gaborik. Detroit and Buffalo did a fantastic job of shutting down the Rangers top offensive threat, and the Red Wings even held Marian to zero shots on goal in a game that he saw close to thirty minutes in ice-time. That is a first.

Anyway, here is the complete offensive lineup from today's practice:

Avery - Prospal - Gaborik
Higgins - Drury - Callahan
Parenteau - Anisimov/Boyle - Kotalik
Lisin/Brashear - Christensen - Voros

Tortorella also explained why he decided to remove Anisimov from the first line center position on Sunday night at the Garden.

“I thought their top line outplayed our top line,” Tortorella said. “I went head on head when they loaded up their top line with Holmstrom, Zetterberg and Datsyuk. I thought it was too much for Artie right now and that’s why we took him off. I think he’s played really well and I don’t want to screw him up as far as his development so I’m always watching that very carefully. If I put him in situations where I don’t think he’s ready for it yet, I’m taking them away.”

(Image courtesy of AP Photo)