The Rangers fresh off their 5-1 win over the Avalanche play their next-to-last game before the Olympic break and the 6,000th inside their history Thursday against the Oilers. New York has won four in a row, seven of their last nine, 10 of their past 13 and gone 15-5-1 in their last 21 games following a horrific start to the season. Edmonton comes in on a bit of a roll, having won four of their last five, yet still sit in last in their division. Offensively, they have a tremendous amount of talent, yet have been unable to put it all together, prompting several of the trade rumors, including the latest surrounding Sam Gagner after Nail Yakupov was prominently mentioned as on the block with the Blueshirts a possible destination.
Two changes from the norm tonight. First, Cam Talbot is making first start since his 5-3 loss to the Islanders on January 21, when he filled in for an ill Henrik Lundqvist. After seeing a healthy dose of action when the Rangers struggled, Talbot has started twice in the team's past 14 games and three in the past 18. With Lundqvist expected to see all the action for Team Sweden in the Olympics, Talbot should see more starts following the Olympic break probably until the middle-to-late part of March.
Second is the re-insertion of Ryan Callahan - yes, he is still a Ranger, move along - back on to the power play. Changing up the line combinations and inserting some grit to break the man advantage out of his recent slump - 0-for-14 - was something we discussed the past several blogs. Coach Alain Vigneault and assistant coach Scott Arniel must have been listening. Callahan joins Chris Kreider and Rick Nash up front with Ryan McDonagh and Derek Stepan on the point while the second unit is Pouliot-Brassard-Zuccarello with Richards and Girardi at the points. The key for the first unit will be puck and player movement since Stepan doesn’t have a big shot from the point and I could see Marc Staal or Anton Stralman or John Moore getting some time there if they struggle getting pucks on the net but Callahan and Kreider give them some grit and in Kreider, a big body in front of the net. Callahan, who was removed off the PP when he came off the IR on January 3, has 44 of his career 132 goals on the man advantage, so he at least has the pedigree to help out the recently struggling man advantage.
Of course, the on-ice oddly enough pales in comparison to the off-ice talk with Callahan, and also to Dan Girardi, whose similar UFA status has taken a backseat to the Rangers' Captain. Steve Bartlett, Callahan's agent is to touch base again with GM Glen Sather today to see if the gap, which is anywhere from $12-17 million and two years can be bridged. The self-created 3pm Friday deadline may be a bit flexible, but stayed tuned for the next 24 hours.
RANGERS
Kreider – Stepan – Nash Hagelin – Richards – Callahan Pouliot – Brassard – Zuccarello Boyle – Moore – Carcillo
McDonagh – Girardi Staal – Stralman Moore – Klein
Henrik Lundqvist (starting) Cam Talbot
OILERS: (updated but still subject to change given the Gagner rumors)
Hall-RNH-Yakupov Perron-Gagner-Eberle Hendricks-Gordon-Hemsky Gazdic-Smyth-R. Jones
N. Schultz-J. Schultz Ference-Fraser Marincin-Petry
Scrivens Bryzgalov
Following tonight's game, the Rangers head to Pittsburgh to take on the Metro Division ad Eastern Conference leading Penguins. If the comment exchange on the prior blog is any indication, the fanbases are ready for this game. For the Rangers, it's a measuring stick contest, but they need to worry about tonight first and then shift the focus. New York is 1-1-1 against the Penguins, but were embarrassed in their last meeting and could be looking to send a message that the game was an aberration and not the norm as well as end the pre-Olympic schedule on a high note.