In a game far, far away from Manhattan, and not even available to the faithful via Web stream in North America, Rangers Coach John Tortorella decided to play his projected top forward lines together for the first time in training camp. Well, almost.
The Rangers defeated Sparta Prague HC, 2-0, on Thursday at Tesla Arena in the Czech Republic. They did so playing three and two-thirds of the four lines Tortorella would like to have when the regular season opens Oct. 7 with a game against the Los Angeles Kings in Stockholm. The trios:
Wojtek Wolski – Brad Richards – Marian Gaborik
Brandon Dubinsky – Artem Anisimov – Ryan Callahan
Ruslan Fedotenko – Derek Stepan – Mats Zuccarello
Mike Rupp – Erik Christensen – Brandon Prust
Eleven of the 12 forwards in Prague figure to be the Rangers’ regulars at forward. The lone exception is Christensen, a slippery puck-handler who is money in the shootout but not as consistent when six players from each team are on the ice. The 6-foot-7 center Brian Boyle, who scored 21 goals in a breakthrough season in 2010-11, is much more likely to be in Christensen’s place.
In the victory over Sparta Prague, Anisimov and Fedotenko scored second-period goals and Martin Biron stopped 23 shots for the shutout.
Progress for Staal: The Rangers said that defenseman Marc Staal (concussion symptoms) would practice on Friday with the Connecticut Whale, the club’s American Hockey League affiliate in Hartford. The Rangers hope Staal can rejoin them in Europe for the start of the regular season. “We’ll see how he reacts,” Tortorella said. “If it’s positive results, we’ll get him here.”
THE GAMES
The Rangers will play Friday against Frolunda, Henrik Lundqvist’s former Swedish Elite League team. The goalie is expected to start the game, which will be broadcast live at 1 p.m. Eastern on MSG Network. The Rangers will complete their preseason schedule with games Sunday in Slovakia against HC Slovan and Monday in Switzerland against EV Zug.
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The Devils lost, 2-1, in Philadelphia on Thursday on a game-winning power-play goal by Jaromir Jagr with just over 7 minutes left in the third period. The good news for the Devils was the strong play of Martin Brodeur, the 39-year-old goaltender for three Stanley Cup champions in New Jersey. Watch Brodeur slide post-to-post on this save on Jagr off a feed from Braydon Coburn.
New Jersey closes out its exhibition schedule this weekend with a pair of games at the Prudential Center in Newark, Friday against the Islanders and Saturday against the Flyers. Coach Pete DeBoer will likely make his final roster decisions on Monday so he can put the chosen 22 players through a full week of practice. The Devils open the regular season Oct. 8 at home against Philadelphia.
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After the matchup in New Jersey on Friday, the Islanders play their final exhibition game on Saturday in Bridgeport, Conn., against the Boston Bruins. Coach Jack Capuano has his top two lines virtually set:
Matt Moulson – John Tavares – P.A. Parenteau
Michael Grabner – Frans Nielsen – Kyle Okposo
Capuano is still giving 19-year-old Nino Niederreiter a look in Parenteau’s place on the third line. With the exceptional puck-moving defenseman Mark Streit back after missing all of last season with a shoulder injury, the Islanders should have no problem scoring goals at even strength and on the power play. The challenge will be keeping opponents from scoring. Veteran defenseman Milan Jurcina, a 6-4 stalwart in his team’s end who played only 46 games last season because of an assortment of ailments, is sidelined with a groin strain suffered in the Islanders’ 2-0 loss in Calgary on Tuesday.
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