Rangers Seek First Pre-Season Win in Detroit

Entering tonight's contest, the Rangers hold a 0-1-1 record in the 2009 pre-season thus far, but will look to earn their first tally in the win column against the Detroit Red Wings tonight at 7:30pm, at Joe Louis Arena. It has been the Rangers prospects that have shined in both games, especially in Wednesday's game against the Devils in New Jersey. Some of the prospect defensemen that we have seen play in both pre-season games against the Bruins and Devils will be getting a rest tonight, as we will get a view of a bit of a different squad taking the ice tonight in Detroit.

Here is tonight's lineup based on the morning skate, courtesy of Blue Notes:

Higgins-Drury-Callahan
Brashear-Boyle-Voros
Avery-Crowder-Parenteau
Grachev-Anisimov-Lisin

Redden-Rozsival
Heikkinen-Potter
Semenov-Sanguinetti

Lundqvist
Zaba

Looking at the roster, while some of the defensemen that played both games will get a rest, the same cannot be said about the offense, as Grachev, Lisin, Parenteau, and Boyle have all played in both games, and will be in the lineup for tonight as well.

As far as newcomers go, Heikkinen and Sanguinetti will be on defense tonight, after not participating so far in the pre-season. Ilkka Heikkinen was signed by the Rangers out of Finland this past June, as has come to training camp in great shape, and has really impressed the coaching staff. In the 45-lap conditioning skate, Heikkinen was lapping players, when others could barely move after just the first thirty. Hieikkinen was labeled as one of the top defensemen in the Finland league, and will make his North American debut tonight.

As for Sanguinetti, many of you have been wondering where Sanguinetti has been, well, he will make an appearance tonight, after sitting out the two previous games. Sangs struggled in the fitness part of training camp, but besides that, he is a strong defensemen. Maybe not as talented as Gilroy or Del Zotto, who will both rest tonight, but is solid in the back end.

Some other areas of interest are the pairing of Wade Redden and Michal Rozsival, and the first line of Higgins, Drury, and Callahan. Starting with Redden and Rozy, head coach John Tortorella has expressed his displeasure in how the two played last season, and how they have played in the pre-season so far. Torts went as far as labeling Redden "kind of a whipping boy around here," meaning that the fans have constant hate towards him in New York. It is possible that the two are being paired together tonight for a reason, maybe to feed off of each other, but the bottom line is that if they plan on having turn-around seasons, they must respond to comments the coach makes, and that needs to start as early as tonight.

I am thrilled to see Callahan on the first line with Drury and Higgins, as all three have proved to be hard workers in both the offensive and defensive zones. We only saw these three play in one game, and that was on Monday against Boston, but the most noticeable was Christopher Higgins. Higgins was very strong on the puck, the forecheck, and around the net, hence the reason why he found the loose puck and buried it for the lone Rangers goal in that game. I think this line will work very well together, and will lead the squad tonight.

Looking at the Red Wings, they will be missing star center Henrik Zetterberg in tonight's contest due to groin tightness (welcome to Gaborik's world), but will still be putting out a decent lineup lead by Niklas Kronwall and Chris Osgood.

Todd Bertuzzi - Justin Abdelkader - Dan Cleary
Ville Leino - Valtteri Filppula - Jason Williams
Johan Ryno - Cory Emmerton - Kirk Maltby
Mattias Ritola - Evan McGrath - Jan Mursak

Niklas Kronwall - Doug Janik
Brett Lebda - Brad Stuart
Derek Meech - Jakub Kindl

Chris Osgood
Thomas McCollum

The offense is very young and inexperienced with the exception of Cleary and Bertuzzi, so I do not see them being much of a threat in this one, but the back-end, including both defense and goaltending will be the solidified portion of the Wing's roster tonight.

Hopefully we will see the Blueshirts maintain the forecheck a bit more, and maybe cash in on a few more chances than we have seen in the past week. The Rangers have a strong lineup going into this game, and I expect big things out of them, especially the first line that I mentioned.

Be sure to check back after the game to read my postgame analysis.....

(Photo courtesy of Getty Images)