After having three days off following their 1-0 win over the Boston Bruins on Saturday, the Rangers return to action tonight when they visit the Buffalo Sabres at HSBC Arena. This will be the first of back-to-back games for the Blueshirts, as they will head to Long Island later tonight to take on the rival Islanders on Thursday at Nassau Coliseum. That amounts to four possible points that the Rangers could collect in the standings over a two-day span, which would help them distance themselves from the teams below them and possibly set up an overtake of sixth place in the Eastern Conference.
Right now the Rangers sit in seventh place with 87 points on the season. They are two points behind Montreal and are ahead of Buffalo by only two. However, they hold a semi-comfortable five-point lead over ninth place, which could work in their favor if they happened to obtain few or no points over the next two days. If they do get the maximum four tallies, though, they will be very close to clinching a spot in the playoffs, which right now is their main goal.
Rangers Lineup:(confirmed)
Dubinsky – Anisimov – Callahan
Prospal – Stepan – Gaborik
Fedotenko – Boyle – Prust
Avery – Christensen – Wolski
Staal – Girardi
McDonagh – Sauer
McCabe – Eminger
Lundqvist
Johnson
Scratches: Mats Zuccarello, Matt Gilroy, Martin Biron (fractured collarbone)
Henrik Lundqvist is expected to make his twenty-first straight start in goal for the Rangers tonight, and when you consider how he stood on his head in Boston this weekend, how could he not? As reported here on Monday, Lundqvist was named the third star of the week in the National Hockey League for his his excellence against the Penguins, Panthers, Senators and Bruins. King Henrik fully deserves it because like I've been saying, he is the main reason why this team is excelling right now. He's carrying the entire club on his shoulders, just as a leader should.
Still awaiting confirmation on the scratches for this tilt, but if I had to guess, Mats Zuccarello will most likely return to the lineup after watching the last game from the press box. Head coach John Tortorella normally does not like to keep his youngsters out of the lineup for too long, which is why I think Zuke will be back tonight. As for who should get scratched in his place, I think I made it pretty clear yesterday who it should be: Wojtek Wolski.
I liked Sean Avery's game on Saturday. He knew he had to have a major impact in the little ice time he would receive, and I felt he did that effectively. Besides the fight, he had a couple shots on goal and that play late in the game when he desperately stretched out his stick while down on the ice to clear the zone was incredible. I'm sure he got a pat on he back from the coach after that one, and generally when you please Torts like that, you remain in the lineup. Then again, it is Sean Avery we are talking about, so I guess you never know.
And just to make note of it, I am a huge fan of Tortorella moving Derek Stepan up to play with Marian Gaborik. Actually, this is something we talked about often at the beginning of the year but nothing really came of it, partly because of injuries. But now these two have been united and they are playing well together. Stepan is one of those players that no matter who he plays with, his game will always be the same. I think that's why he works so well on that line.
Scouting the Sabres:
The Sabres missed out on an opportunity to tie the Rangers in points last night when they fell, 4-3, to the Toronto Maple Leafs in regulation. Buffalo therefore remains in eighth place in the East heading into this contest and still two points behind the Rangers. They will be just as hungry for a win this evening as the Blueshirts, so it should be an intense match-up that I expect to be very closely played.
The Sabres had won three straight games prior to last night, so they were on a bit of a hot streak. It seems like every time the Rangers win, Buffalo has responded with a victory of their own. Both teams will prefer a low-scoring affair in this one, but in the end, all that matters is the two points and they wil take them any way they can.
Opponent Blog: Sabres Edge
Remember: You can discuss tonight's game live in our new chat room. Just click on the "chat room" tab.
========================================================================
Follow me on Twitter or e-mail me at nmontemagno@rangerstribune.com
moochmadden 