When: Friday, September 23, 7:00 p.m.
Opponent: @New Jersey Devils (1-0-0)
TV: MSG
UPDATE (3:25 p.m.):
- The Rangers beat the Devils in overtime in today's AHL/prospects exhibition game. Jonathan Audy-Marchessaut scored the game-winner 16 seconds into overtime for the Blueshirts. Ryan Bourque had two goals, J.T. Miller had one and Christian Thomas also scored.
UPDATE (11:45 a.m.):
- Though the five-forward combination used at practice this morning might not be a finished product, Coach John Tortorella said that he does plan to use a defense-less power play this season. Tortorella doesn't want "to put any harness on Richie." In other words, Torts knows the power play was a huge weakness last year, but he thinks that by giving Richards as many weapons as possible it could be much better this season.
- Marc Staal is being evaluated by specialists today. The Rangers should know tomorrow whether or not he'll be able to travel with the team to Europe, but even if he misses the initial flight he may still meet the team later.
- 20-25 cuts will be announced tomorrow.
EARLIER:
Wednesday night we
saw the jayvee, tonight we’ll see the (mostly) varsity.
In the first meeting between these two teams the Devils
dressed the likes of Ilya Kovalchuk, Patrick Elias and Zach Parise while the
biggest names the Rangers had in the lineup were Brandon Dubinsky, Artem
Anisimov and Dan Girardi. The result was
a 2-1 overtime loss in a dominating performance by the Devils.
But tonight we’ll see the big guns: the unveiling of the
Wojtek Wolski/Brad Richards/Marian Gaborik line that has been so good in
training camp, the reunion of 2/3 of last year’s greatest surprise, the Ruslan
Fedotenko/Brian Boyle/Brandon Prust line, the debut of the team's new captain, Ryan Callahan, and the return of Derek Stepan, who’s
looking to build off a huge rookie season.
In all, we could see three of the four lines that will be in
the opening night lineup, at least three of the defensemen and backup goalie
Martin Biron.
Tonight’s group would probably have fared a bit better against
the Devils’ largely NHL bench from Wednesday and as such, expectations will be
higher.
The outcome of the game isn’t so important, but tonight we
should see a more organized effort. The
Boyle/Fedotenko tandem was intact for most of last year, McDonagh and Sauer were together for the whole second half of last season and Richards and Gaborik are so talented that
they should be able to produce a little even if it is just preseason.
There will still be a few fringe players in the lineup as
Coach John Tortorella tries to evaluate his young talent. Dale Weise will get another shot after scoring
the loan goal on Wednesday, speedster Carl Hagelin will continue to fight
for a spot and well see if young defensemen Tim Erixon and Michael Del Zotto can be a bit more effective with a chance to calm down and a game out of the
way. Brendan Bell and Pavel Valentenko will also be worth keeping an eye on, as either could factor into the defensive
rotation.
Once again, John Tortorella will be watching from above as
he tries to determine which young players can help the Blueshirts now and which
combinations of players give the Blueshirts the best chance for success this
season.
It’s not a regular season tune-up just yet, but we’re quickly
seeing the roster get whittled down as we prepare for what everyone expects to
be a big season on Broadway.
Tonight’s projected
lineup:
Wojtek Wolski/Brad Richards/Marian Gaborik
Carl Hagelin/Derek Stepan/Ryan Callahan
Rulsan Fedotenko/Brian Boyle/Mats Zuccarello
Mike Rupp/Kris Newbury/Dale Weise
Ryan McDonagh/Mike Sauer
Tim Erixon/Brendan Bell
Michael Del Zotto/Pavel Valentenko
Martin Biron/Chad Johnson
- The Blueshirts used five forwards on the power play during practice this morning. Brad Richards and Wojtek Wolski occupied the points with Ryan Callahan, Brandon Dubinsky and Marian Gaborik up front.
- New York will also play New Jersey in an untelevised
AHL/prospects game today at 1:00 p.m. ET. Here’s the
Rangers’ lineup for that game:
Forwards: Audy-Marchessault, Bourque,
Hickmott, McColgan, Miller, Rust, St. Croix, Tanski, Tessier, Thomas, Wilson,
Yogan
Defensemen: Bickel, Klassen, Kundratek, McIlrath, Niemi,
Noreau
Goalies: Missiaen, Stajcer
For more from training camp:
Training
Camp Roster And 6 Battles To Watch >
Training
Camp Opens With "The Test" >
Staal
Injury Overshadows Encouraging First Scrimmage >
Scrimmage
Lines Provide Strong Clues To John Tortorella's Thinking >
Staal's
Condition Growing Worrisome: Is A Veteran Defenseman Acquistion Coming? >
Rangers
Contact Paul Mara's Agent As Concern Over Staal Grows >
Preseason
Game #1 Preview: This Team Isn't Messing Around >
September
21 Training Camp Quick Hits >
Rangers
Fall 2-1 In Underwhelming Preseason Opener > (9/21/11)
Dale
Weise May Be Ready, But Is There Room For Him? >
Practice
Lines May Reveal Where Everyone Currently Stands > (9/22/11)
Preseason Game #2 Preview: Debut Of The Big Guns > (9/23/11)
Click
here for our full Summer 2011 Archive >
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