Rangers in New Jersey for Second of Back to Back

Coming off of a 2-1 loss to the Boston Bruins in the pre-season opener last night at Madison Square Garden, a squad with a different look will be hitting the ice tonight against the New Jersey Devils, in the second of back to back pre-season contests. It took the Blueshirts a while to find their legs against Boston last night, but when they did, the forecheck was phenomenal, and head coach John Tortorella will be looking for more of the same against New Jersey.

Eight players that were in the lineup for the Rangers on Tuesday, will, again, be playing in tonight's game against the Devils, along with twelve faces we have yet to see play in this pre-season. Here is tonight's Ranger lineup courtesy of Andrew Gross at Ranger Rants:

Sean Avery-Vinny Prospal-Enver Lisin
Evgeny Grachev-Brian Boyle-Ales Kotalik
Patrick Rissmiller-Tyler Arnason-P.A. Parenteau
Aaron Voros-Matt Maccarone-Jordan Owens

Wade Redden-Matt Gilroy
Brent Henley-Corey Potter
Michael Del Zotto-Michal Rozsival

Henrik Lundqvist
Chad Johnson

Taking this line by line, Sean Avery and Vinny Prospal will be new additions to the first line tonight, as they got the night off on Tuesday. Newly acquired center/winger Vinny Prospal is being played in the center position as of right now, with Dubinsky still un-signed. Supposedly Prospal and winger Sean Avery have developed some chemistry over the course of training camp, and we will be able to see that tonight, as they are paired with Enver Lisin who played in yesterday's game.

The second line is made up of all players that were in the lineup against the Bruins last night; Evgeny Grachev, Brian Boyle, and Ales Kotalik. In my opinion, this is being done to get a better look at the new faces on the team, and consider where they will fit in the lineup, or will not fit for that matter. Evgeny Grachev was performing all over the ice late in yesterday's game, so I expect him to pick up right where he left off. As for Kotalik, expect to see him on the point on the powerplay tonight, and one thing I learned about him last night: He is not afraid to shoot the puck. Ales's accuracy was a bit off, but when he found the net, he was an automatic factor.

On the third line, we will see newly signed Tyler Arnason in the middle of Pat Rissmiller and P.A. Parenteau. Pat Rissmiller played with the Rangers early on in last year, but was then sent down to the Hartford Wolfpack, where he spent the remainder of the season. Tyler Arnason will be making his Ranger appearance tonight, after signing with the team in late July.

Another familar face in tonight's roster is Aaron Voros, who played quite often under former coach Tom Renney, but did not see the ice as much under John Tortorella. Voros will be centered by Matt Maccarone, who you may remember from last night's game, and Wolf Pack winger Jordan Owens on the right side.

As far as defense goes, both Mike Del Zotto and Matt Gilroy will be playing in the second of back to back games, after playing in last night's match against the B's. For the first time this year, we will be seeing veteran defensemen Wade Redden and Michal Rozsival, along with prospects Brent Henley and Corey Potter.

Del Zotto and Gilroy were probably two of the best players on the ice for the Blueshirts last night, and will look to repeat tonight at the Prudential Center. Rozsival and Redden will look to get off on the right foot in the pre-season, after having disastrous seasons last year. Also keep an eye on Corey Potter, who played in several games with the Rangers last season, in which he recorded his first NHL goal.

Notice that there is no Bobby Sanguinetti or Ilkka Heikkinen in the lineup for the Rangers tonight. Heikkinen played in the AHL preseason game for the Wolf Pack earlier in the day, which is the reason why we will not see him, but I am surprised to see Brent Henley get the call over Sangs, which I suspect has something to do with Sanguinetti's struggles in training camp thus far.

And finally, we will be seeing the "King", Henrik Lundqvist between the pipes for half of this game, when he will then be relieved by newly acquired goaltender Chad Johnson. Lundqvist has been solid in the camp scrimmages, so I expect a stellar performance out of him tonight, and Chad Johnson was great in the Traverse City tournament last week, so look for him to be confident in net for the Rangers.

That pretty much wraps up the Ranger lineup. Now for the home team Devil's roster, which has a lot of regulars within it:

Zach Parise-Travis Zajac-Brendan Shanahan
Brian Rolston-Dainius Zubrus-Niclas Bergfors
Vladimir Zharkov-Patrice Cormier-David Clarkson
PLL Lebond-Rod Pelley-Illkka Pikkairainen

Bryce Salvador-Cory Murphy
Mike Mottau-Johnny Oduya
Mark Fraser-Alexander Urbom

Yann Danis
Jeff Frazee

I am expecting the Rangers to get off to a quicker start tonight, and get the offense going early. If the Blueshirts can put a lot of pressure on former Islanders goalie Yann Danis, then we may be able to see a high scoring game by the team. The Ranger defense will also have to be sharp, while attempting to shut down Zack Parise, and the rest of the Devil offense, which will include former Ranger Brendan Shanahan.

Also, remember to check back after the game for full postgame analysis......
(Image courtesy of AP Photo)