The Rangers complete their four-game homestand against a new conference rival, the Red Wings. Detroit, like Pittsburgh, have been beset by a ton of injuries - more on that later - but have still found a way to go 5-4-1 in their last 10 to keep their heads relatively above water in the tough Atlantic Division (at least the top-six are). New York comes in off a disappointing loss to Tampa, where two goals in nine seconds were their undoing and resulted in the defeat.
As Erik Marsh and Larry Brooks wrote today: "The Wings are one point back of the Rangers for the last wild card spot in the Eastern Conference so the two points up for grabs tonight are especially important for both teams. The Senators and the Devils, both teams looking to leapfrog the Wings, are also in action tonight. Should the Wings lose and the Senators and Devils win, the Wings could quickly find themselves fifth in the Wild Card race. " It's kind of fun to have the Red Wings and Rangers battling for a playoff spot again, hearkening us back to days of yore when there were six teams and only four made the playoffs. In addition, save for Chicago, the Original-Six are in the Eastern Conference and it will be interesting to see how many of the five make it to the post-season.
PROJECT LINES (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
RED WINGS Nyquist – Zetterberg – Abdelkader Jurco – Sheahan – Bertuzzi Miller – Andersson – Samuelsson Cleary – Glendening – Eaves
Kronwall – Smith DeKeyser – Quincey Lashoff – Kindl
Jimmy Howard (starting despite his hip flexor injury) Petr Mrazek
Injuries: C Darren Helm (groin/shoulder), C Stephen Weiss (groin/hernia), D Jonathan Ericsson (shoulder/ribs), C Johan Franzen (concussion), C Pavel Datsyuk (concussion), RW Daniel Alfredsson (groin/back), G Jonas Gustavsson (groin/neck) and LW Tomas Tatar (personal reasons/attending father’s funeral).
The names there in many cases stand out. You look at Tatar-Datsyuk-Alfredsson, which could be a top line, given how Tatar has played lately, including the inspirational goal he scored over the weekend. Then add in Franzen, inching closer to returning and called the Mule for a reason, along with Helm, who helped picked up the slack before year-end for all the injuries then , and Ericsson, a top-four d-man, and it's amazing the team has been as solid as they have been. It's a testament to the system and farm team in Grand Rapids and job the coaching staff has done to have Detroit ready nightly. Plus, as we saw when the Rangers faced a depleted squad, the names on the front sometimes are more important than the ones on the back, though the difference there was Pitt may have had more top end talent in the lineup, despite Malkin's and Neal's absence, than the Red Wings will have.
RANGERS
Kreider – Stepan – Nash Hagelin – Richards – Callahan Pouliot – Brassard – Zuccarello Boyle – Moore – Carcillo
McDonagh – Girardi Staal – Stralman Moore – Del Zotto
Henrik Lundqvist (starting) Cam Talbot
Injuries: Dorsett
To me, the most interesting pre-game bits of data came from AV and Nash.
It was good to hear Vigneault recognize the need for rest and recovery and how critical they are in general, but especially in an Olympic year with the condensed schedule. In addition, it's not only the physical demands but the mental ones, which can be even more taxing than physical. Extrapolating this, to me it pretty much confirms that Cam Talbot will play either Saturday afternoon at Ottawa or Sunday against Washington.
The other piece was Nash talking about his return. Andrew Gross covered it today and I have Nash's comments in quotes. Nash said getting back inside was difficult when he first returned to the lineup, though not necessarily because he was concerned about the physical play around the crease.
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It’s part of the biggest change I’ve been trying to make to my game,… Nash said. “I think it’s hard when you come back from an injury, especially the injury I was coming back from, to get back on the inside. It took a while to figure out my game again. But AV was helping me out and the assistant coaches were helping me out. I got the feel of my game back, that’s when I started producing."
In other words, Nash felt some hesitation at first about heading to the net.
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Yeah, it’s a combination of everything, the speed of the game, how fast it is, timing, just trying to figure out how to put all the mechanics with your legs, your hands, skating, all together and be in the right spot at the right time,… said Nash, adding it didn’t necessarily have anything to do with coming back from a concussion. “Not so much hesitation that way. With the doctors, we took our time to make sure I did come back and didn’t have any hesitation with that problem. It didn’t have to do mostly to do with the injury. You come back when you’re 100 percent so it doesn’t affect those things. It’s more timing and being away from the game for six weeks, that’s the main issue."
I agree with the first piece of what Nash said, but he can spin his struggles anyway he wants, but to me and I think to all of us it was a result of the injury or because he still was injured. It looked pretty clear that Nash was reluctant to go into the dirty areas, opting to circle on the outside or peel back from the inside to the outside. It's possible, as he alludes, that it was more mental than physical. But even so, that mental challenge was due to the injury as to the fear or getting hit or jostled again and having a setback or additional injury sideline him.