Update: According to John Dellapina of the
New York Daily News, Marek Malik will be a healthy scratch tonight. Head coach Tom Renney has elected to go with Thomas Pock instead.
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After starting off the season by going 2-3, New York Rangers head coach Tom Renney spent the last four days juggling his lines, trying to find the right combinations that can help the team even its record with a win over the lowly Atlanta Thrashers (0-6) tonight.
With the injuries to Sean Avery (shoulder) and Marcel Hossa (groin…he will miss tonight’s game), Renney has used this week to find out just how much depth the team has by coming up with the following lines:
Jaromir Jagr-Scott Gomez-Nigel Dawes
Petr Prucha-Chris Drury-Ryan Callahan
Martin Straka-Blair Betts-Brendan Shanahan
Colton Orr-Brandon Dubinsky-Ryan Hollweg
For Nigel Dawes, who was recently called up from the Hartford Wolf Pack, this is a tremendous opportunity to show that when given the chance to play with top offensive players, he can excel. Dawes made the club last season out of training camp but ended up spending a lot of time on the fourth line, where he average around five minutes per game for the first 10 games of the season, prompting the team to send him down to Hartford.
This is also a chance for new Ranger Chris Drury to find his game. After starting his tenure as a Ranger by tallying three points (1 goal, 2 assists), Drury has yet to look comfortable with his offensive game. This could be because he has not been able to find the right chemistry with both Jagr and Shanahan on the first and second lines.
As a result, Renney has paired Drury with youngsters Petr Prucha and Ryan Callahan. In Prucha and Callahan, he now has two fast wingers who go hard to the net so may be this is a way for Renney to spark some offense in the Rangers’ future captain.
Despite leading the league in shots on goal (32 in five games), Shanahan is also a guy who is pressing to provide some offense, as he has posted just one assist in the team’s first five games. Playing with grinder Blair Betts and playmaker Martin Straka, Shanahan may be able to get back on the board and give the Rangers the offensive punch that they have lacked thus far.
On the defensive side, it looks like Thomas Pock will play for the first time all season. In practice yesterday, he was paired with Michal Rozsival. Does this mean that Renney has had heard the Ranger fans outcry to bench Malik? Possibly but it could also mean that he just wanted to see where Pock’s fitness level is.
Other News and Notes
Yesterday, the Rangers sent down Dave Scatchard, with the Rangers on a tryout basis, to the Wolf Pack. He will be with the club on a five game professional tryout, after which the team will decide if they think he is worth signing.
At the other end of the rink, the Atlanta Thrashers appear to be in worse shape, as they recently axed Bob Hartley after starting out the season 0-6. The team has not had very good goaltending, a low output offense and a defense that has a bunch of holes right now.
With that being said, this looks like a game that the Rangers can easily win. At the same time, however, it also looks like a game where the Rangers can provide their fans with a traditional letdown.
Until then, for questions, comments and hip checks, feel free to e-mail me at
[email protected].
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