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Tuesday, 01 February 2011 12:10

Written by Seth Rorabaugh

A preview of the Rangers.

When and where: 7:30 p.m. Madison Square Garden.

TV: Versus, TSN2.

Record: 29-20-3, 61 points, The Rangers are in sixth place in the Eastern Conference and third place in the Atlantic Division.

Leading Scorer: Brandon Dubinsky, 38 points (17 goals, 21 assists).

Last Game: 4-3 home loss to the Panthers, Jan. 25. Mats Zuccarello (right) had three assists for the Rangers.

Last Game against the Penguins: 4-1 road win, Dec. 15, 2010. Evgeni Malkin scored for the Penguins.

Rangers Player We Would Bet Money On Scoring: Brian Boyle. He had a goal and an assist against the Penguins Dec. 15.

Ex-Penguins on the Rangers: Erik Christensen, C; Ruslan Fedotenko, LW; Rick Kehoe, professional scout.

Ex-Rangers on the Penguins: Phil Bourque, broadcaster; Pascal Dupuis, RW; Bob Errey, broadcaster; Tony Granato, assistant coach; Kevin Stevens, professional scout.

Useless Rangers Trivia Vaguely Related to the Penguins: Former Penguin Andy Bathgate holds the Rangers' franchise record for consecutive games with a goal. He netted 11 goals in 10 games during the 1962-63 season.

Best Rangers Video We Could Find: Here's a match made in heaven. Former Rangers antagonist trying to kiss former Capitals captain Dale Hunter during the 1994 playoffs:

Probable goaltenders: Marc-Andre Fleury (23-11-2, 2.19 GAA, .925 SV%) for the Penguins and Henrik Lundqvist (21-16-3, 2.29 GAA, .924 SV%) for the Rangers.

Injuries: For the Penguins, forwards Sidney Crosby (concussion) and Evgeni Malkin (knee/sinus infection) are out. Forwards Mike Comrie (hip), Eric Godard (face) and defenseman Alex Grant (wrist) are on injured reserve. For the Rangers, forward Ruslan Fedotenko (shoulder) is questionable. Forward Derek Boogaard (shoulder), Erik Christensen (knee), Brandon Dubinsky (leg), Alexander Frolov (knee) and Vaclav Prospal (knee) are on injured reserve.

Potential lines and defensive pairings: The Penguins' primary lines in practice today were:

Chris Kunitz - Mark Letestu - Pascal Dupuis
Tyler Kennedy - Jordan Staal - Eric Godard
Mike Rupp - Maxime Talbot - Chris Conner
Craig Adams - Dustin Jeffrey - Arron Asham

Their primary defensive pairings last Tuesday against the Islanders were:

Brooks Orpik - Kris Letang
Paul Martin - Zbynek Michalek
Alex Goligoski - Ben Lovejoy

The Rangers primary lines in practice yesterday were:

Sean Avery - Artem Anisimov - Marian Gaborik
Wojtek Wolski - Derek Stepan - Ryan Callahan
Mats Zuccarello - Brian Boyle - Brandon Prust
Evgeny Grachev - Kris Newbury - Chris Drury

-Their primary defensive pairings in last Tuesday's game against the Panghers were:

Marc Staal - Michael Sauer
Ryan McDonagh - Matt Gilroy
Michael Del Zotto - Steve Eminger

Notes:

-Malkin's sinus infection has been a bigger problem than his ailing knee.

-Crosby has been engaged in light skating.

-Dupuis has 99 career points with the Penguins.

-Talbot has 49 career goals, 49 career assists and 98 career points.

-Rangers forward Ryan Callahan is expected to return to the lineup after missing 18 games. He broke his hand while blocking a shot Dec. 15 in Pittsburgh. Defenseman Dan Girardi is expected to return as well after missing two games due to a rib ailment.

-Our live blog begins at approximately 7:30 p.m. Please tune in.

(Photo: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

Comments (2)

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written by eman41, February 01, 2011 - 12:05 PM

Crosby makes his return on Super Bowl Sunday. All the story lines are there for NBC to hype.

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written by Bones, February 01, 2011 - 01:07 PM

Esa Tikkanen was a bizarre hockey player. I remember ESPN doing a piece on him the year the Caps got swept by the Wings. They had captured some audio of that crazy "Tikkanese" language he used to use on the ice. Dude was a huge pest.

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