East meets West when King Henrik battles Roberto Luongo.

They’re Kings of their own domain. Both dominating in net for their respective clubs. Much like when Rocky took on Ivan Drago, East will meet West again when Ranger netminder Henrik Lundqvist battles Vancouver’s Roberto Luongo tonight at the Garden.

The game features two of the elite goalies in the game with Luongo’s five shutouts leading the league while King Henrik ranks first with 12 wins and tied for third with a miniscule 1.92 GAA. About the only surprise headed into the match is that Lundqvist, who led the league last year with 10 shutouts has failed to post one yet. Could it happen tonight against one of the best goaltenders who he’s had great success against outplaying him in all three career meetings back in his rookie season (2005-06) when Luongo was still a Panther?

We’ll just have to wait and see if the outcome will be similar because Luongo’s on a much better team with the Canucks (10-6-2, 22 Pts) tied for fourth in an ultra competitive West where four total points separates third place Minnesota from ninth place Nashville and Columbus.

Vancouver is eerily similar to the East-leading Rangers (14-5-2, 30 Pts) relying on the stellar play of their netminder while getting timely scoring from a balanced offense led by Daniel and Henrik Sedin. Henrik leads them with 15 points (3-12-15) while brother Daniel’s six goals are second to former Leaf Kyle Wellwood, who’s played very well thus far scoring big goals to rebound from an injury plagued 2007-08 with seven markers.

Unlike last season, the Canucks possess a more balanced attack with youngsters Ryan Kesler and Mason Raymond contributing along with the pesky Alex Burrows. Veteran pickup Pavol Demitra recently returned from injury scoring the lone goal in a 2-1 shootout loss at the Islanders Monday. He also netted three assists in a win over Toronto on Hockey Night In Canada.

Demitra is helping replace former Canuck Markus Naslund, who faces the team he rose to stardom with after coming over from the Penguins for <gulp> the immortal Alek Stojanov. Gee. I wonder who won that one.

In over 11 seasons spent in British Columbia, Naslund scored 346 goals including 30 or better six times hitting at least 40 in three straight seasons from 2000-01 through 2002-03 with his best coming in ‘02-03 when he tallied 48 goals and 56 assists for 104 points- all career highs across the board. He also went 5-9-14 in the postseason with the ‘Nucks falling to the Wild blowing a 3-1 series lead after Todd Bertuzzi opened his mouth.

The former Canuck leader dropped off following the lockout going from 32 goals and 79 points in 2005-06 to 24 and 60 in 2006-07 to 25 and 55 in his final campaign last season. His lowest output in a decade when he went 14-20-34 in his second full season with Vancouver before becoming one of the better scorers in the league during a low scoring era.

Overall with the Canucks, Naslund scored 346 goals, 390 assists totaling 736 points in 884 games. Impressive marks for the skilled Swede once tabbed by Pittsburgh in the first round 16th overall back in 1991. Just imagine if Craig Patrick had kept him playing alongside Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr, Ron Francis, Martin Straka and Alexei Kovalev. There’s no telling what they might’ve accomplished.

Instead, he went on to stardom in Vancouver becoming one of the most respected players before being shown the door by management who blamed him for their shortcomings. Considering that his production was down, maybe it was time for a change. He pursued the Rangers once before re-upping with the Canucks. Now signed with the Broadway club for two years, eight million, Naslund is tied for second in Ranger scoring with 14 points (6-8-14). He scored his biggest goal in the final minute tying Boston last Saturday as the club rallied from two back to post a 3-2 shootout win.

After coming out of the gate slowly, Naslund’s begun to fit in on a team which doesn’t rely on one or two players to score but rather a group which has seen at least seven Rangers with 11 points or more. Interestingly enough, for a team that doesn’t score a ton (57 GF in 21 GP), they’re tied with the Blues for third best in double digit scorers with only the high flying Western attacks of the league best Sharks and defending champion Red Wings getting more contributions with as many as 10 different players scoring at least 10 or more points thus far.

Naslund’s former club has at least six of those including solid defenseman Kevin Bieksa (3-8-11), who won’t be in Vancouver’s lineup due to a left foot fracture that has him on IR. A break for the Blueshirts, who themselves won’t have one of their better scorers in Scott Gomez (3-10-13), who will remain out for a fourth consecutive game with an ankle injury.

It’s worth noting that the game doesn’t start until 7:30 with drop of the puck around 7:38 with the game which can be seen locally on MSG also being televised by TSN which helps explain the late start.

As for the history between Luongo and Lundqvist as noted above, here’s a little more on it along with some other fun facts courtesy of The NHL Today in today’s notes:

FROM THE STAT WIZARDS AT ELIAS SPORTS BUREAU
– The Canucks play the Rangers in New York tonight with a likely matchup of goaltenders Roberto Luongo and Henrik Lundqvist. Luongo ranks third among NHL goaltenders with 127 wins over the last four seasons while Lundqvist’s 116 wins tie him with Marty Turco for fourth-most in the league over that span. The top two goaltenders on the list are New Jersey’s Martin Brodeur (141 wins) and Calgary’s Miikka Kiprusoff (131).

Lundqvist and Luongo have started against each other three times, all in 2005-06, Lundqvist’s rookie season and Luongo’s last season with the Florida Panthers. Lundqvist and the Rangers won all three games: two 4-0 shutouts at Madison Square Garden and a 4-3 shootout victory in Florida.

If you want to read an interesting article before the game, be sure to check out Sam Weinman’s special feature on Ranger captain Chris Drury’s special relationship with former BU teammate Travis Roy, who was paralyzed 13 years ago during a freak accident on his first collegiate shift.

The two have remained close since the incident with Drury raising money for Roy’s cause by hosting a golf tournament continuing to contribute to the Travis Roy Foundation to this day. They still speak regularly and it’s clear how much admiration they have for each other with Drury heaping praise on how well his former teammate has handled being a quadriplegic raising money and awareness for spinal cord injuries:

“He’s an inspiration to me and a lot of people just with what he deals with on a regular basis. He’s very upbeat. He has his goals and is very independent. I can’t imagine what he goes through. I don’t think anybody could. But I don’t think he could handle it better.“

I don’t think any of us could imagine having to go through life battling as hard as Roy does day in and day out. His story is extremely courageous and uplifting.  Tonight, he’ll be speaking out at Rye High School while one of his closest buddies takes the ice able to live out a lifelong dream he once had.

When you think all is lost, just remember how fortunate we really are.

With Gomez continuing to not progress, figure the lineup to remain the same:

Naslund-Drury-Callahan

Voros-Dubinsky-Zherdev

Dawes-Korpikoski-Fritsche

Sjostrom-Betts-Orr

Redden-Girardi

Staal-Mara

Kalinin-Rozsival

It’s a light schedule with the slumping Sabres visiting the Bruins at the top of the hour which can be viewed on yahoo online if you don’t get Center Ice. The late game features the sizzling Alexander Ovechkin and the Capitals visiting the Ducks.

Ovechkin got out slowly but has been on fire lately:

– The Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin had only eight points (2 goals, 6 assists) in his first 11 games this season but he’s scored 10 points (5 goals, 5 assists) in the team’s last four games, with at least one goal and two points in each game. Ovechkin is the first Capitals player to register at least one goal and two points in each of four consecutive team games since Jaromir Jagr had two such four-game streaks in the 2001-02 season. The only player in Capitals history with a longer streak of that kind was Dennis Maruk in 1980-81 (five games).

Enjoy the night’s action.

Michal Rozsival has struggled while Wade Redden has settled in as he faces his former club tonight.

It won’t be just another game for Ranger defenseman Wade Redden when he faces off against his former team, the Senators who visit the Garden for the first of two meetings this week with his new team also visiting Ottawa for a Saturday matinee.

That’s where the 31 year-old veteran out of Sasketchewan who was originally an Islander 1995 second overall selection before traded there for former Calder winner Bryan Berard blossomed into one of the better overall defensemen. In 11 seasons with the Sens, Redden amassed 410 points (101 goals, 309 assists) along with a respectable plus-159 rating over 838 career games.

How consistent was he during his Ottawa career? Only once did Redden finish with a minus-rating while going plus-17 or better in six seasons including five straight between 2000-01 and 2005-06 when he put up his best numbers posting 10-40-50, plus-35 with eight power play goals and four game winners in just 65 contests. Had he not missed time, he gets nominated for the Norris and maybe wins the annual Nicklas Lidstrom Award.

Redden’s contributions helped lead the Senators reach the Stanley Cup before they lost in five games to the Ducks. A series which wasn’t one of his finer moments.

Still, his time spent there was very successful and helped prepare him for his first season with his new team on Broadway where he signed up for the next six years at an average of $6.5 million per year to try to help the Rangers climb further. Thus far, he’s been up and down through the team’s first 20 games posting two goals and six assists for eight points with a plus-two rating.

However, unlike struggling teammate Michal Rozsival, who reupped for four more years getting $20 million, Redden’s settled in and is coming off his best game of a 2008-09 season which has seen a team many questioned get off to a 13-5-2 start good for tops in the East while his former club struggles sitting dead last in their division with just 14 points following being swept by the Islanders.

You just know they want to come into New York and spoil the party. This isn’t just another game for Redden. If you’re Rozsival, you probably wish it was considering how badly the 30 year-old Czech has struggled. It was his two giveaways which led to both Bruin goals putting his team in a two-goal hole before they found the wherewithal to mount another late comeback. One thing about this Ranger club is they never give up. They might not be the most physical but they’re never out of a game.

Rozsival’s poor play has not gone unnoticed where Garden Faithful have booed him for his weak defensive play and awful turnovers on the point while running a power play which has been a sore spot ranking 23rd clicking at just 15.8 percent while permitting a league worst six shorthanded goals (tied w/CBJ) in large part due to the defenseman’s lack of decisiveness. He just refuses to shoot and has lost so much confidence that even the simplest passes are too much for him to handle drawing the ire of home fans.

Add it all up and the Blueshirts are paying him an annual salary of five million to take up lots of space while playing unsteady turning his end into an adventure even making weak link D partner Dmitri Kalinin look better. Though to the former Sabre’s credit, he’s played better lately taking more of the initiative physically and moving the puck well.

The question becomes are the boos getting to Rozsival? It certainly looks that way but with a continued glut at forward with the club not carrying any extra blueliners, Tom Renney has no choice but to continue playing him and hope he snaps out of it. Not surprisingly, the player’s coach showed tremendous loyalty to a player the Rangers have gotten the most out of since taking a waiver on him prior to the 2005-06 season:

“I’m disappointed in what he’s getting right now because he’s a hell of a human being and a great teammate. He’s a good player and he has been since he got here. He needs to know that from us and he gets that every day from his teammates every single day. We’ll stay with him.”

Truth be told, Rozsival has been a key contributor during the club’s three trips back to the postseason including a couple of EC Semi appearances which saw him score a huge triple overtime goal to get the Rangers back in that series against Buffalo.

In his first three seasons, Rozsival notched at least 30 points or better taking on large responsibility playing in every key situation taking advantage of his big opportunity. He went 5-25-30, +35 in Year 1 and followed it up with 10-30-40, +10. Last season, he set a new career high in goals (13) with six coming via the man-advantage while totaling 38 points while going Even over 80 games while playing through a knee injury which he had surgery for during the offseason.

So, he hasn’t been a bad performer here which is why his dreadful start in the first year of a big contract is so alarming. Despite nine points (2-7-9), Rozsival is minus-six and has not looked good.

Tonight, he’ll reach a milestone taking part in his 500th career NHL game looking to reverse the jeers to cheers.

According to Sam Weinman’s Journal Ranger blog, Scott Gomez (ankle) skated this morning but is again out and remains doubtful for Wednesday versus the Canucks.

So, figure the line combos to remain the same:

Naslund-Drury-Callahan

Voros-Dubinsky-Zherdev

Dawes-Korpikoski-Fritsche

Sjostrom-Betts-Orr

Redden-Girardi

Staal-Mara

Kalinin-Rozsival

Also expect Henrik Lundqvist to make his 12th start in 13 games thanks to a schedule which hasn’t had any recent back-to-backs.

Their record continues to be one of the better ones in the league thanks to a 10-2-1 start. However, the Rangers had slumped winning only once in five before their second period explosion in their latest win over the beat up Hudson rival Devils in Newark Wednesday.

Maybe the Devs were the right elixir to cure their recent struggles even though the Blueshirts again got off to a bad start with one constant Henrik Lundqvist holding them in before Nikolai Zherdev and Chris Drury got untracked. Certainly, they took advantage of a struggling opponent who they’d owned.

Now tonight, Tom Renney’s first place club steps up in competition playing host to one of the better teams in the NHL in the red hot Bruins, who enter MSG with a five-game win streak coming off a hard fought shootout win in Chicago before dismantling the Canadiens 6-1 the other night in improving to 10-3-3 with their 23 points ranking second best to the Rangers’ 26 despite having played three fewer games.

With one of the better netminders in Tim Thomas and a stingy D under former Devil coach Claude Julien, the Bruins are a well schooled club which plays responsible two-way hockey led by veteran physical defenseman Zdeno Chara and the much overlooked Dennis Wideman, who they acquired from St. Louis for Brad Boyes in one of those deals which worked out well for both teams.

They also have a very fast attack up front which can transition from D to offense quickly with leading scorer Marc Savard (6-11-17), Marco Sturm, Patrice Bergeron, Chuck Kobasew, Michael Ryder along with emerging stars Phil Kessel, Milan Lucic and David Krejci. Adding former Phoenix No.1 pick Blake Wheeler (six goals) to the mix in the offseason gave them even more young talent to what’s become a legit playoff contender. Adding a vet like Stephane Yelle who has valuable Cup experience helped improve their depth.

When you can send out Jay Pandolfo clone P.J. Axelsson to pull out a shootout with a sweet backhand deke past Nikolai Khabibulin, you know you’re pushing all the right buttons and have a good team capable of doing something.

If the Rangers (12-5-2, 26 Pts) are to prevail, they’ll need to be extremely sharp from the outset. They can’t afford another sluggish start against a very opportunistic club that enters ranked in overall team defense (2.01 GAA). In case you’re wondering, the Rangers rank third best (2.13 GAA). So, it’s imperative to get out quickly or it could be a long night.

Looking for pleasant surprises on the home side? Look no further than third-year defender Dan Girardi, who’s not only one of the team’s most reliable in his end but suddenly has added offense to his game on a consistent basis with his 14 points (2-12-14) second on the club and tied for third among blueliners this season. Not bad for a guy who went undrafted and has evolved into a steal for Glen Sather.

Last season, the 24 year-old from Ontario tallied 28 points (10-18-28) including five power play goals in his first full campaign.

His emergence along with Paul Mara’s steady improvement have made up for Wade Redden and Michal Rozsival’s poor starts.

Updating Scott Gomez’ status via The Journal’s Sam Weinman, the playmaking pivot remains out for tonight with an ankle injury. Obviously, the team is operating on the side of caution which is probably wise considering the kind of game they got from Nigel Dawes, rookie Lauri Korpikoski and Dan Fritsche Wednesday.

Expect the same lines for tonight:

Naslund-Drury-Callahan

Voros-Dubinsky-Zherdev

Dawes-Korpikoski-Fritsche

Sjostrom-Betts-Orr

Redden-Girardi

Staal-Mara

Kalinin-Rozsival

If you’re looking for a scrap, keep an eye on Boston’s Shawn Thornton who will mix it up. So, maybe Colton Orr will get to use his fists.

Don’t forget, the other two locals are in action as well with the Devils hosting the Capitals in a rematch of last night which Washington took 3-1. The Islanders face off against Ottawa looking for a sweep of a home-and-home when they host the Sens at Nassau Coliseum.

Here are the rest of a busy Saturday night schedule:

Flyers @ Canadiens, 7 ET, HNIC

Maple Leafs @ Canucks, 7 ET, HNIC

Sabres @ Penguins, 7:30 ET

Blue Jackets @ Wild, 8 ET

Stars @ Coyotes, 9 ET

Avalanche @ Oilers, 10 ET, HNIC

Predators @ Kings, 10:30 ET

Enjoy the games!

They started the season by winning their first five and going 10-2-1. But lately, bad habits have crept into the Rangers’ game leaving them with just one win in their last five (1-3-1).

Now, they’ll face a battered archrival when they pay a visit to The Rock to renew the Battle of Hudson against a struggling Devils team which won’t have the familiar Martin Brodeur in net snapping a streak of 30 straight starts.

It will be very strange to see former Ranger Kevin Weekes manning goal for the Devs but that’s precisely the situation Brent Sutter’s club is in with not only no Marty but neither Paul Martin or Andy Greene on D and of course, no Brian Rolston or Bobby Holik though Brian Gionta is back in playing on the Madden line according to Journal News’ Sam Weinman via his outstanding blog.

In fact, according to Weinman, here’s what the Devil lineup should look like:

Parise-Zajac-Langenbrunner

Pandolfo-Madden-Elias

Gionta-Zubrus-Clarkson

Rupp-Vrana

Note: The Devils are dressing seven D. So they’ll be mixing and matching.

Salvador-Oduya

White-Mottau

Salmela-Brookbank/Leach
If only it were that simple for the Rangers, who have their own issues getting off to slow starts falling behind despite a much healthier roster which should give them the edge in this match-up. However, judging from recent history where Henrik Lundqvist has dominated Brodeur, maybe the Devils are better off at least for the present with Weekes in net. They can’t do much worse.

As Hasan previously noted in his nostalgic post, it used to be the other way around with the Rangers unable to buy a win over their closest rival (distance folks). Sure. The tables have turned but usually, the games have been close. And while it looks like the Rangers should win, you know better considering that this team has been underperforming and can’t score to save its life.

The Devils don’t score much either but possess the best forward on either roster in the red hot Zach Parise, who enters with 11 goals, tied with Alex Semin for second trailing just Buffalo star Thomas Vanek for the league lead.

The man is amazing. He really is. When you look at the rest of his team, it’s unbelievable how he finds ways to put the puck in the net. The Devils as a team have scored 37 goals entering tonight with the Zach Attack responsible for 29.7 percent. Remarkable.

If the Blueshirts are to come away with two points, they’ll need to shutdown Parise. A lot easier said than accomplished these days. He’s their energizer who never takes a shift off and has great hands around the net which are improving all the time. He’s going to be a lock for 40 goals and might even challenge the 50 barrier. Did I just say that about a Devil? Oh. He’s that good.

While Parise does most of the scoring, Patrik Elias is their second best and while streaky is certainly capable of erupting. Keeping him and pesky linemates John Madden and Jay Pandolfo in check would bode well for the Rangers.

The Devs also have quiet captain Jamie Langenbrunner along with Gionta and Zajac, who’s rebounded from a bad sophomore campaign. So, it’s not like they’re incapable. They just haven’t been scoring much.

As for the Rangers, it’s more scoring by committee with team captain Chris Drury pacing the club with six including his tying goal the other night 46 seconds into the third to earn them a point against Edmonton. Believe it or not, he’s tied with Aaron Voros, who got two identical ones versus Brodeur in the Rangers’ MSG win last month. Why does that feel like so long ago? Figure Voros to be doing battle in front with Weekes. He’s gotten underneath the skin of recent opponents. So, keep a close eye on what happens at the edge of the Devils crease.

Nikolai Zherdev has cooled off and Brandon Dubinsky has hit a slump. Scott Gomez is a minus-four despite creating opportunities almost every game. If only the coach would awaken and realize his best finisher should play with his most dynamic passer. Wake me up when it happens.

Markus Naslund has played much better recently and will need to have a good game tonight. Still, one has to wonder why Tom Renney keeps changing the lines giving them no chance of forming any chemistry which has contributed to the lack of consistency.

It’s little secret that I’m not happy with Renney and I’m far from alone. This team has too much speed to be playing this conservatively. They need to play more of an up-tempo system which takes advantage of their team speed and allows the Ryan Callahans and Nigel Dawes (in and out of the doghouse with Petr Prucha) to excel.

Wade Redden is wasting away literally and Michal Rozsival has been dreadful. Has anyone seen Dmitri Kalinin’s plus/minus? He’s played a little better lately but come on. The only consistent players on the blueline thus far are Paul Mara and Dan Girardi with even Marc Staal a little jittery in his second season.

There’s just not much to like about this team despite their tainted 11-5-2 mark entering play where before long, the Penguins will overtake them minus Sergei Gonchar and Ryan Whitney. Speaking of which, did anyone catch that incredible comeback last night in which they fought back from 5-2 and 6-4 down on the strength of a Jordan Staal natural hat trick tying it with 24 ticks left before stripping maybe the best player in the game in Pavel Datsyuk to setup Ruslan Fedotenko’s winner for a 7-6 win over the Red Wings? It was an amazing game and a remarkable performance by Staal, who carried his team to victory.

How come the Pens who dropped off in talent can still light up the scoreboard? I know it’s cause they got two of the best players in Crosby and Malkin. But they lost Marian Hossa and Ryan Malone picking up Miroslav Satan, who not surprisingly is rejuvenated along with Fedotenko.

It’s just very frustrating watching the Rangers on offense. They don’t finish checks. They don’t generate much on the cycle and their power play troubles are well documented.

So, even if they win tonight, it won’t even be all that exciting because I feel they need a different leadership if they’re going to seriously compete. I’m going to state how I’d make the lines for the upteenth time.

Naslund-Gomez-Zherdev- putting their best three offensive guys together makes too much sense.

Dawes-Drury-Callahan- this is how it’s gotta be. It worked last year and Callahan certainly has played well. Dawes will come around.

Voros-Dubinsky-Sjostrom- isn’t it about time they rewarded Sjostrom and gave him a real center to play with? Voros works well with Dubinsky and creates space.

Korpikoski-Betts-Orr- as much as I agree with a diehard I talk to in my section about the coach overplaying Betts and Orr, they’ve earned the right to stay in the lineup. This is the only line which brings it every shift and Betts’ penalty killing has become invaluable. He’s always in the right spot. Give them a kid with speed who might be able to do something with the puck. If you’re going to bring Korpikoski up, play him!

At this point, I’ve concluded that Prucha needs to be traded. He just will never get a fair shake here. So, do the kid a favor and send him elsewhere so he at least gets a chance to repair his career. Renney has treated him so unfairly, it sickens me. He pulled the same garbage with Jarkko Immonen. Remember him? He was a part of the Brian Leetch trade. The Finn was a solid two-way player with decent hands. But Renney didn’t like him cause he wasn’t a good enough skater despite the fact he wasn’t even that bad and looked like he could contribute offensively. No wonder the kid went home.

This is how annoyed I am with the coach. Sure. He’s brought back respectability to the franchise and for that, I’m grateful. I met the guy during the lockout at a team get together and he’s a very classy well spoken man. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s the right fit for this team going forward. They have a world class Vezina candidate in Lundqvist. They brought in Gomez and Drury to seriously compete. But when you look at the roster, there just aren’t many guys who can finish which is why it’s baffling that he doesn’t try Zherdev with Gomez.

His system won’t get the most out of Callahan or Dawes, who has scored at every level. A more aggressive system would be better for this team moving forward. And ditto for Korpikoski, who is a great skater and showed in preseason he’s got the ability to finish which is why maybe he should play with Dubinsky.

My other suggestion would be shifting Voros to the fourth line making it a royal pain to play against because they’d be a very good forechecking line banging everyone.

If the coach likes Naslund with Drury, then keep Callahan with Gomez and Zherdev. Cally has worked well with Gomer and could bud into a 20-goal guy. If we follow through on this other idea, here’s how I’d make the lines:

Callahan-Gomez-Zherdev

Dawes-Drury-Naslund

Korpikoski-Dubinsky-Sjostrom/Fritsche

Voros-Betts-Orr

These lines would have pretty good balance. Sure. It’s risky going with unproven finishers with Dubi but they are good enough skaters and there’s some skill which could show itself. The way this team is setup, it’s imperative that the young guys contribute. Sjostrom isn’t a fourth liner. He deserves a chance to play with a real center.

As for who I deal Prucha to, I don’t have a clue. I still don’t know what the heck Patrick Rissmiller’s doing on our roster. How in the world did Glen Sather sign him for three years? Between overpaying Redden and Rozsival tho the market influenced his price and adding so many fourth liners, he screwed up our cap.

I’m fairly certain Fritsche will be in tonight over Dawes cause he played good the other night. Our coach really hasn’t given him a fair chance either to show what he can do. Having too many forwards hurts cause guys are in and out of the lineup which isn’t good for team chemistry. They should have kept Corey Potter or Brian Fahey as an extra D.

In any event, the game is an hour away. What team will show?

Well let’s get the doom and gloom out of the way first - the Devils and the Rangers meet tomorrow night at the Rock for the teams’ first ‘real’ encounter since Game 5 of last season’s playoffs.  Or Game 2 if you’ve got selective memory loss like many Devils fans have attempted to induce on themselves.  Try as I might however, I can’t forget that the Rangers have a 12-0-2 record against us combined between regular season and playoffs since the beginning of the ‘07-08 season (our meager two wins coming in a shootout and an overtime).

As if recent head-to-head history isn’t bad enough, the Devils will still have half their roster out for tomorrow’s game, though Bryce Salvador and Brian Gionta are both expected to return, which should help.  And Paul Martin’s due back soon, allegedly.  Maybe even Brian Rolston, though counting on accurate injury information from the Devils is like expecting a straight answer from a politician on either side of the aisle.  Whatever the case, the Devils need to put together some wins soon, now that their record has dropped to 7-5-2 with a tough home-and-home with the Caps looming after this Ranger showdown over the weekend. 

Okay, that’s enough of the depressing present; Derek can have at the nuts and bolts preview.  After watching the Devils’ 2003 Cup video last night I’m in a bit of a nostalgic mood, so to lighten the mood a little (except maybe for our fellow Ranger bloggers) I’ll put together a top five list of Devils-Rangers moments…completely from the red perspective of course, and more personal favorites than anything else since ironically I only started to become a hockey fan in the mid-90’s - the salad days for the NHL in the NY area, though I blame the convenient timeframe on not having SportsChannel growing up:

Honorable mention: Okay it wasn’t an actual game - but who can forget the Seinfeld episode with David Puddy with the face painted, not to mention Jerry and company having to paint D-E-V-I-L-S on their chests during a (fictional) playoff game at the Garden.  I was never a regular Seinfeld watcher but I’ve definitely seen this episode a few times and it was the first real national attention for the team, aside from former coach Jim Schonfeld’s generosity with donuts in the ‘88 Conference Finals.

5) Our regular season dominance was so pronounced during the late 90’s, I can’t remember the exact numbers - I think at one point we went without a regulation loss in 23 straight games against the Rangers and had only two regulation defeats in 37 games, something very close to that.  Instead of picking a game from this stretch I’ll give it a spot as its own entity.  It almost made the playoff losses in the ’90’s tolerable, at least for a few moments here and there.

4) In February of ‘07 just after the Rangers acquired the infamous Sean Avery, they played the Devils in a home-and-home, the teams’ last two meetings of that season.  I went to both games, over a span of three days.  We won 2-1 on the home end with a mid-third period goal by Zach Parise, shutting up an obnoxious middle-aged woman (Rangers fan) behind me in the process and then proceeding to win a shootout on the road end.  Both games were intensely physical - fun stuff and as of now the last hurrah in the Devils’ regular season dominance over the Rangers since the mid 90’s. 

3) I really remember very little of this game, other than the fact that the Devils won 2-1 at the Garden near the end of the 2003 season - the significance of this game is that it gave the Devils the division title and eliminated the Rangers from playoff contention in one fell swoop.  Looking up the details, it proved to be a harbinger of things to come as eventual playoff heroes Jeff Friesen and Scott Niedermayer scored the two goals that evening.

2) Also a personal favorite, being that it was my first ever trip to the Garden and the Devils won a 3-1 tilt in December of ‘05, coming back from 1-0 down in the third period with three quick goals, despite going 0-11 on the power play (yes I do remember that).  And not only that, but almost by accident I met Patrik Elias on the train ride back - as he was still recovering from hepatitis and went to the game with a friend evidently but was sitting by himself.  As luck would have it I was wearing my Elias jersey at the time, and we wound up talking for a half hour until he got off at South Orange if I recall.  You get even more respect for players when you realize they’re just people too, especially if they’re genuinely nice like Elias.

1) Four-way tie…does anyone really need to ask?  The sweep of 2006 was not only decisive (we outscored the Rangers 17-3 in the four games), but laid to rest all the ghosts of playoff series past, after losing tight seven-game tilts to the Rangers in 1992 and more notably 1994, as well as a five-game upset in 1997.  That series was the culmination of an inspiring 15-game winning streak that saw the Devils go from the playoff bubble to division champs and cruising through the first round against their bitter rivals.

I was at Game 1 of that series - the 6-1 stomping with almost every goal on the power play and also went to the Game 4 clincher at the Garden, where we fell behind 1-0 after the first period but the Devils pulled away late and I had a nice celebration with friends on the way back.  Also memorable from that series was John Madden’s hat trick in Game 2 and one fan’s way of throwing a hat to celebrate - he didn’t have one so he threw a toupee instead.  Of course there was the Jaromir Jagr injury situation, where he went after Jay Pandolfo late in Game 1 and threw out his shoulder, then tried to come back in Game 4 and was laid out by a Brad Lukowich check inside the first minute of the game.  We got the better of Jagr that time as well as 2001 with the Penguins, though he certainly helped one-up us in ‘91, ‘93 and ‘99.

Anyway at least this list helped me forget about the Devils’ stormy present for a moment, hopefully it did for a few readers as well.

So apparently the final verdict is in on tonight’s lineup.  Brian Gionta is out and the immortal Patrick Davis will take his place, while Bryce Salvador will play.  However, the Devils will dress a seventh defenseman just in case - new callup (and career journeyman) Jay Leach.  As a result, Niklas Bergfors will also be scratched to make room for Leach. 

Which makes you wonder why Bergfors is even here in the first place.  I don’t dispute the talented winger still needs some time down at Lowell - but why waste a prospect in a fourth-line role where he’s doomed to fail to begin with?

In any event, the lines will probably look like this:

Parise-Zajac-Langs, Pando-Madden-Elias, Rupp-Zubrus-Clarkson, Brookbank-Vrana-Davis

Salvador-Oduya, White-Mottau, Salmela-Leach

The over-under on icetime for Vrana and Davis is probably ten minutes between them.  While it’s around twenty-five minutes for Jamie ’serial crest killer’ Langenbrunner - and zero points.

Oh, and Scott Clemmensen will get his first start of the season tonight.  While it makes perfect book sense considering the back-to-back games in different time zones, I’d hide the women and children if you’re watching this game.  It might not be pretty.

Pregame update: Well okay, so Salvador will not play and Bergfors will.  Typical Devils, nobody knows what’s going on.  I suppose that’s the way Lou likes it.

They were 20 minutes away from a season best three-game winning streak but then the third period came which saw the Thrashers score three unanswered sending Scott Gordon’s Islanders soul searching after a 4-3 loss in Atlanta.

“After our first two goals, we stopped skating,” the first-year coach explained. “All of a sudden, we were a different team. We were not aggressive.”

His team had gotten goals from Frans Nielsen and Trent Hunter 17 seconds apart in the second to take the 3-1 lead into the locker room. But it was quickly erased when Slava Kozlov and Jason Williams tallied 48 seconds apart early in the third before Tobias Enstrom netted the winner with 8:31 left.

It seems no lead is safe for this Islander club who’s blown three big ones in the third including last week’s meltdown versus the Canadiens where they unveiled their new uniforms honoring the 1972-73 inaugural season. In that third period, they blew a three-goal lead giving up four straight to lose in regulation.

What if they could protect a lead? They’d obviously be better than their 4-8-1 record that has them tied with Florida for the fewest points in the league. The encouraging news is they’re playing better lately despite knowing Rick DiPietro won’t be back anytime soon. But can Joey MacDonald and backup Yann Danis keep them afloat?

In the mean time, whoever gets the nod in goal will be facing the high powered Penguins for the first time ever. The Pens will have the league’s leading scorer Evgeni Malkin (4-17-21) but Sidney Crosby is uncertain and has been playing through an injury. So, he’ll be a game-time decision.

It also marks the return of Miroslav Satan and Ruslan Fedotenko. Satan spent his previous three seasons on the Island driving Islander fans nuts due to inconsistencies and numbers which plummeted from 35 goals and 66 points in 2005-06 to 27 and 59 in 2006-07 to just 16 and 41 last season making it an easy club decision not to bring him back.

Somehow, Satan landed on his feet getting to play with the very skilled Pens and now enters having scored in three straight leading the club with eight goals. As for Fedotenko, his lone season with the Isles saw him put up 33 points (16-17-33) in 67 contests. He enters with two goals and two assists with his new team.

Obviously, the Isles should have a little added incentive to win tonight aside from looking to bounce back from the Atlanta game.

First-year defenseman Mark Streit has played well leading the team in scoring with 11 points (4-7-11) proving Garth Snow right so far for investing $20 million over five years in the former Hab power play specialist. He’s logged a ton of ice-time playing in all key situations.

Islander team captain Bill Guerin continues to provide solid leadership tied for the team lead with Hunter in goals (5) while also tied with Streit and vet Doug Weight for the team lead with 11 points.

Nielsen’s also been a pleasant surprise totaling seven points and veteran Richard Park has seven points including a deciding shorthanded goal in a 2-1 win over the Rangers earlier this week.

The Isles need more from Jeff Tambellini who re-signed for a couple of years and has no goals and only one assist with a minus-five in 11 games. When does the former Kings’ 2003 first round pick prove he’s worth that committment?

Meanwhile, rookie Kyle Okposo has struggled with only a goal and two helpers with a minus-six rating thus far. He’s capable of more.

The upcoming schedule doesn’t promise to get any easier with the Flyers visiting Tuesday and then a home and home against Ottawa before returning to Nassau Coliseum to host the Canucks on Nov.17.

There isn’t one easy game in it. So, it should be interesting to see how Gordon’s club responds.

The other locals also will be in action with the Rangers visiting the Caps while the Devils pay a visit to The Joe to face the defending Cup champion Red Wings.

Here’s the rest of Saturday night’s sched:

Buf at Bos, 7 ET

Cgy at CBJ, 7 ET

TB at Phi, 7 ET

Mtl at Tor, 7 ET, HNIC

Nsh at Col, 9 ET

Fla at Phx, 9 ET

Dal at SJ, 10 ET

Min at Van, 10 ET

Stl at LA, 10:30 ET

The Rangers (10-4-1, 6-3-0 at MSG) have struggled the last four periods getting outscored 7-1 with all seven coming in what previously was their strongest period- the third. As documented, they’ve been winning despite not always giving their best effort. Eventually, the bad habits which were creeping into their game had to start rearing its ugly head.

That’s what we’ve seen in that five-goal Leaf explosion and the Isles’ two shorthanded goals victimizing Michal Rozsival who became a booing target. Now, comes tonight’s game versus a Lightning club which is playing significantly better than they did when the Rangers swept them in Prague. Vincent Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis are heating up and Jussi Jokinen continues to perform well. Steven Stamkos is finally showing flashes and Mike Smith continues giving his team a chance night in and night out.

Is Tampa’s rebirth that suddenly has them 4-3-4 including 3-0-1 in the last four coincidence since they added former Ranger Marek Malik to their blueline? Some fans might laugh but the big lumbering guy actually isn’t the liability many claimed. What’s even funnier is that he also possesses a good first pass like expensive replacement Wade Redden.

The Bolts have only dropped one game in regulation since Malik joined up posting a 3-1-1 record. Big Bird has no points with six penalty minutes along with a plus-two rating. He’s not being asked to log huge minutes due to key cogs Andrej Meszaros and Paul Ranger. Figure the 33 year-old Czech to get 16-17 minutes. Oh. And if you’re looking for him, he won’t be wearing No.8 which is owned by vet Mark Recchi. Malik is donning No.22.

While some attention certainly will be on Malik, you have to wonder if they’ll continue booing Malik’s former partner Rozsival and when they’ll finally turn on the team’s most overpaid invisible player in Redden.

All signs point to the lineup remaining the same despite a zombie-like Halloween effort the other night. Tom Renney hasn’t hinted at any personnel changes on special teams where the team is now ranked 29th in the league- a dismal 13.5 percent (15-for-74) including 26th at home having scored only four in 33 opportunities giving the Garden crowd plenty to boo over.

At least the team’s second ranked PK continues to get the job done having permitted just five PPG in 59 chances (91.5 percent). The Lightning power play is ranked just 22nd but scored twice in last night’s 4-3 shootout loss to the Devils. They have plenty of skill guys who can turn that number around.

If it’s true that the lines aren’t being changed with Dan Fritsche and Patrick Rissmiller healthy scratches, then what’s there to be excited about?

Unless Nigel Dawes starts popping a few and Petr Prucha scores, there just aren’t enough finishers. If I were doing the lines, this is how I’d make them:

Naslund-Gomez-Zherdev

Dawes-Drury-Callahan

Sjostrom-Dubinsky-Prucha

Voros-Betts-Orr

Note the flip between Sjostrom and Voros. Voros is a support player who brings size and energy. But he’s slumping and doesn’t have good hands. Sjostrom has much more speed and can score if given the opportunity. Trying him and Prucha with Dubinsky is worth a shot.

As for the power play, the units need to be changed. Enough’s enough.

PP Unit 1:

Naslund-Gomez-Zherdev

Redden-Mara

PP Unit 2:

Dawes-Dubinsky-Prucha

Drury-Rozsival

This would be a different look. Thing is players like Callahan, Voros and Sjostrom should be rotated in if things continue to remain stagnant. A PP with Voros is more basic cause his job is to screen the goalie and find loose change.

Until the staff gets more creative, it will continue to struggle.

Here’s a makeshift unit:

Voros-Drury-Callahan

Rozsival-Kalinin

It’s my belief that when it’s not working, the coach should keep an open mind. So, if the fourth line continues to play well, then why not reward them with a PP shift? Sticking Sjostrom and Orr around Drury and Dubinsky might send a message. When things go bad, it’s cause they press. Simplifying is better.

There are a slew of games tonight. The Islanders aim for their season high third straight when they take on the Thrashers at Phillips Arena. Figure Joey MacDonald to get the call.

Here are the other match-ups:

Edm @ Pit, 7 ET

Car @ Wsh, 7 ET

Tor @ Bos, 7 ET

Phi @ Ott, 7:30 ET

Min @ Col, 9 ET

Nsh @ Cgy, 9:30 ET

Phx @ Van, 10 ET

Stl @ SJ, 10:30 ET

Fla @ LA, 10:30 ET

PAGING ISLANDER FANS: Regarding the Isles, we’re looking for an Islander fan who would like to blog about the team. We got the Rangers and Devils covered. But we definitely could use an Islander fan to give us better perspective on their rebuild under Scott Gordon.

If you know of anybody that’s interested, please send them here. We’re all about making this place better so that all hockey fans can enjoy it. Let us hear from you!

With the news coming down yesterday that Devils icon Martin Brodeur will miss at least the next 3-4 months due to injury, many questions now surround the team.  To wit:

A) Will they acquire a goaltender to at least share some of the load with Kevin Weekes?  Possibly, since Scott Clemmensen is not an NHL-caliber goalie and odds are he - or whoever’s backing up Weekes - will have to play at least 8-10 games.  After all, Weekes has started six games in twenty-two months.  It’s unrealistic to expect him to rip off a Marty-like streak of 29 starts in 30 games, especially given his own recent injury issues - he missed most of the last half of 2006-07 for the Rangers and unbeknownst to him played through a similar injury to Marty’s during 2007-08. 

If the Devils make any trade for a goalie at all look for a stopgap option like Johan Hedberg or (shudder) Martin Gerber to back up Weekes.  The bigger-name goalies on the market such as Nikolai Khabibulin and Dwayne Roloson really aren’t that much better than Weekes anyway and would take too much cap room, even with half the Devils’ roster currently on LTIR.  Plus they would expect to start half or more of the games, so I doubt the Devils would make a big splash for a goaltender, especially if Marty is indeed back by early-late February and if Weekes proves he’s still a quality NHL goalie.

B) Will Lou make any other improvements to the team (say adding onto the offense or a D-man) to compensate for not having Marty and the recent spate of injuries?  I doubt it, especially since we seem to be an organization that’s become allergic to finding a way to improve the offense - Brian Rolston signing notwithstanding. 

Plus there just aren’t enough trading chips right now with all the injuries, some of the few trading chips we have (say, Petr Vrana or Niklas Bergfors) are in the lineup now as it is.  Granted they’re not playing very much but trading forwards off the active roster won’t solve much and with so many people up here, there once again is a lack of Lowell farmhands to use in trade. 

C) Assuming the roster pretty much stays as is, what’s the short and long-term prognosis for the Devils?  That’s the great unknown, nobody knows.  It’s been a long time since the Devils have had a look at post-Marty life.  Brodeur missed two weeks in 2005-06 due to a knee injury and the results were mixed, with Clemmensen going 2-2-2 but struggling in his last few games. 

Since then the D’s lost Brian Rafalski and has a diminished Colin White, while the offense has lost Scott Gomez and has a diminished Patrik Elias and Brian Gionta.  At least Weekes is an upgrade now over Clemmensen then but it’s long been suspected that the Devils - especially the last two years - were a non-playoff team carried there by Marty’s brilliance.  One thing’s for sure, the rest of the walking wounded (Rolston, Paul Martin - who will also miss tonight’s game, etc) better get back asap or the Devils aren’t a playoff team no matter who the goalie is.

D) Will the Devils Legion (a.k.a the fanbase) completely implode?  Early returns were not promising, as the Devils barely cracked 10,000 in attendance for Monday’s game against the Sabres, the first of what is now many without their franchise goalie.  With ticket prices being the highest in the league, don’t look for weekday numbers to be much better from here in and quite possibly worse tonight. 

But in some respects it might actually energize the die-hards now that the Devils (particularly Weekes) are in a relatively new role of underdog.  Weekes got a healthy ovation when he was announced and cheers throughout for his brilliant performance Monday.  Of course that won’t last if he suddenly starts giving up 3-4 goals a game.  

Not to mention it should be a huge wakeup call for spoiled fans who feel that it’s our entitlement to make the playoffs every year like one co-worker who is a Devils fan and was actually glad to hear about the Marty injury because in his words, ‘at least he’ll be rested for the playoffs’.  All you need to do is watch the Mets or the Jets - like I do - to not take the playoffs for granted. 

In any case, the answers start tonight when the Devils host the Lightning.

The Rangers aim for their fifth straight trying to match how they began October which turned into their best ever start going 10-2-1 for a league best 21points. Well, they did play more than anyone else.

No surprise that Stephen Valiquette will be in net at Toronto facing a team he’s fared well against. My guess is Vesa Toskala will again get the call for the Leafs as Curtis Joseph has yet to start a game.

Keep a close eye on Nikolai Kumelin who is a skilled rookie and Mikhail Grabovski who was effective in the last meeting won by the Rangers 1-0 in a shootout at MSG.

No Petr Prucha again. :-\ When are they gonna just release him from jail? 1.6 million.

Tom Renney has shifted the lines a little:

Dawes-Gomez-Callahan

Voros-Dubinsky-Zherdev

Naslund-Drury-Fritsche

Sjostrom-Betts-Orr

I’ll say it again. Sjostrom is better than a fourth liner. Well, it is indeed Toskala in for the Leafs, who enter off their wild 6-5 shootout win over the Devils at The Rock. They’ve done alright. So, it could be an interesting match-up.

See ya later!