Antropov, Avery and Morris are making their Ranger debuts tonight. Zipay is reporting that Antro will be playing on the right side on one of the top two lines tonight. My guess is that Antro will replace Cally on the 2nd line, and Avery and Cally will flank the Korpedo on the 3rd line.
So my guess at the lines tonight:
Naslund-Gomez-Zherdev
Dubi-Drury-Antropov
Avery-Korpikoski-Callahan
Sjostrom-Betts-Orr
Rozsival-Redden
Staal-Girardi
Morris-Mara
That’s my guess on the lines tonight. It’s really not that far fetched, and the forward combinations are much improved from the beginning of the season. I really like that 2nd line. It is a solid line, it’s amazing what the addition of Antro does to the lineup. Avery on the 3rd line with Cally and Korpo makes it a small, fiesty, very quick line.
As for the PP, Antropov will definitely be on the powerplay tonight (as per Zipay’s live chat). I really, really hope that Rozsival winds up on the left point on the PP tonight. He has a great shot (see: Game 3, Rangers vs. Buffalo), and he should get much better shots/opportunities shooting from the left. It looks like Morris will get PP time too. I hope that he makes me eat my words.
The Rangers very quickly bought into Tortorella’s offensive system, and it is really showing in the play of Rozsival and Redden. Both are shooting more often and getting better at putting pucks in the net, and it finally started to click on Saturday. Let’s hope they can keep it up against the Islanders tonight, who have been playing fairly well as of late. Kyle Okposo is going to be a star.
This, much like every other game for the remainder of the year, is a must win. The Rangers will need to win at least 10 of their remaining 18 games to have a solid shot of making the playoffs.
I think I’m going to hold a “contest”. Basically, if Morris makes me eat my words…..something. Suggestions? Keep in mind I work, so shaving my head is not an option.
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