There are some lineup changes for tonight's game against the Devils but not necessarily the ones that were predicted. Defenseman Michal Rozsival will miss tonight's game because of family issues and rookie Corey Potter will be called up from Hartford (AHL), though Potter, who played in the Wolf Pack's loss last night to Bridgeport, did not participate in the morning skate. Rozsival is not expected to miss more than one game, meaning he should be available Monday against the Islanders. Potter will skate with Dmitri Kalinin while Marc Staal is reunited with Paul Mara and Wade Redden stays with Dan Girardi.
Also, Colton Orr, fighting flu symptoms, was told to stay home this morning instead of skating. He'll be a game-time decision with Petr Prucha skating in the pre-game warmups as a precaution. Given what Orr provides to the Rangers in terms of physical play and his enforcer duties, if he's weakened by the flu, it may not make sense to dress him.
So, Aaron Voros, who, yesterday, it appeared, would be a healthy scratch for the first time this season with Prucha playing in his place, will remain in the lineup. Right now, he's playing with Brandon Dubinsky and Lauri Korpikoski. However, if Orr cannot play, there's a good chance Voros would play with Blair Betts and Fredrik Sjostrom while Prucha is on Dubinsky's line.
This much is known: Henrik Lundqvist will start in goal and Dan Fritsche will be a healthy scratch.
And Rozsival, who has five goals and 12 assists and will miss his first game this season, has actually been playing better as of late. He had three goals and was a plus-2 over his last four games after going through a seven-game stretch where he was scoreless and a minus-9.
More later from the Garden.
Redden is the worst dman in the league bar none. Drury has been nothing but a medicore player here and one of the worst captains around. Scott Gomez couldn't be more invisable if he tried.
Posted by: graves9 | December 27, 2008 at 09:58 PM