Rangers Notebook: 4.1.09
A few notes for Wednesday afternoon:
- Michal Rozsival was on
the ice at practice today, skating with Aaron Voros on the line drills. Rozsival said the knee he injured last week bothered him only on fast stops and pivots. - Coach Tortorella said he will talk to the docs before deciding if Rozsival will skate tomorrow in Carolina.
- Corey Potter was paired with Paul Mara in practice. Mara seems to get all the rooks.
- Top two lines at practice were Avery-Gomez-Callahan, and Zherdev-Drury-Antropov. If you're keeping score at home, Markus Naslund is now a $5M third-line winger. His linemates, Dubinsky and Sjostrom, make a combined $1.475M.
- Naslund has 5 games to avoid his lowest goal total in 12 years. He had 14 in 1997, he has 23 now. He has just 2 goals in the last ten games. Somehow the new up-tempo system Torts has installed has been lost on Markus Naslund.
- Carolina has won 6 straight, and 9 straight at home. The Rangers have their work cut out for them tomorrow night.
- The Rangers record against the Devils with Sean Avery in the lineup is 12-2-3.
- Speaking of Avery, he is investing in a nightclub in NYC
- Steve Zipay over at Newsday talks about how Henrik Lundqvist is still the key to the Rangers success.
- The Sporting News says the Rangers are one of two teams you don't want to face in the playoffs.
It wouldn't be the worst thing in the world for the Devils to get off the schneid and beat the Penguins tonight. That would give the Rangers a chance to leapfrog the Pens into a 5th place tie with the Canes with a win tomorrow night. Pens only have 2 home games remaining, and will face the Canadiens in Montreal for their last game of the season. That game may have huge ramifications on the playoff seedings.