Pregame: Blueshirts in DC Against Caps, Grachev Recalled

On Monday night, the Rangers were involved in a spirited match-up with the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center. Tonight's game against the Capitals will be no different, as the Blueshirts enter the contest with painful memories of last season's elimination in Washington, with a only a few minutes remaining in regulation time of game seven. It really doesn't feel like it has been five months since that game, but anyway, revenge will be in the eyes of the Rangers tonight, and hopefully the team will get off to a better start than they one in New Jersey.

As for tonight's lineup, there is a possibility that there could be a change to what I posted earlier in the morning, as forward Ryan Callahan suffered a minor upper body injury in today's morning skate, according to Andrew Gross at Ranger Rants. As insurance, the Rangers have called up Evgeny Grachev from the Hartford Wolf Pack to fill in for Ryan if he/staff so chooses not to play. It is a disappointment if the physical Callahan will not be good to go against the Caps, because a body like his is exactly what you want in your lineup when facing an offensively threatening team like Washington. For Grachev, this will be his first visit to the NHL after playing in numerous pre-season games with the Rangers in September.

It is suspected that if Callahan is scratched from the lineup, winger Ales Kotalik will move up to the second to play on Drury's right, while Grachev will play with Anisimov and Lisin on the third line. Both Anisimov and Lisin have been extremely quiet through the first three games of season, but showed great chemistry while playing with Grachev in the exhibition contests, so maybe this could potentially be the jump-start of the third line.

With that said, here is what tonight's lineup will look like, assuming Callahan does not play:

Prospal - Dubinksy - Gaborik
Higgins - Drury - Kotalik
Lisin - Anisimov - Grachev
Brashear - Boyle - Voros

Staal - Girardi
Redden - Gilroy
Del Zotto - Rozsival

Lundqvist

Leaving the scratches being Sean Avery (sore knee) and Ryan Callahan (upper body). I would expect both to be ready to return on Sunday at Madison Square Garden against the Ducks.

Henrik Lundqvist will get the nod for his fourth consecutive start tonight, and there has been nothing faulty with his game at all just yet (knock on wood). I really liked how Hank played against the Devils, even though he may not have been the player of the game. His task will be to shut down the dangerous offensive attack of the Capitals, which was involved in a high scoring affair in Philadelphia on Tuesday.

I am looking forward to watching the first line for the Rangers tonight, as they have registered at least a point in every game thus far. There are not a whole lot of match-ups that are better than Ovechkin vs Gaborik, two of the most prolific goal scorers in the present day NHL. Brandon Dubinsky has also played very well, and Tortorella has noticed it. Dubi has looked like first line center material this season, and we would all enjoy seeing that continue tonight in DC.

Here is the projected lineup for the Washington Capitals:

Ovechkin - Backstrom - Semin
Laich - Morrison - Knuble
Laing - Steckel - Clark
Sloan - Gordon - Bradley

Green - Morrisonn
Poti - Erskine
Pothier - Schultz

Theodore
Varlamov

The Capitals goaltending seems to be altered every game, so I am not sure as to whether Theodore or Varlamov will get the start in all honesty. However, goaltending is not the issue from a Rangers standpoint, but it is Alex Ovechkin who they MUST keep an eye on in this one. Ovechkin already has five goals scored in only three games played, and has recorded at least three points in each of these games. Now it is impossible to "completely" shut this guy down, but there are ways to restrict him, and the Rangers have to find those ways, unless they plan on a very high scoring game.

Aside from that, the Blueshirts defense will get burned badly if they are caught pinching as we have seen in earlier games. Mike Green may be the best rush leader on defense in this league, and he will transform our turnovers into odd-man rushes coming towards Lundqvist in a second, so it is crucial that our D does not get caught too often.

Offensively, the Rangers need to get at these goalies, and early, because they have not looked to sharp to start the season. If the Blueshirts can get the forecheck going, and apply pressure, we may see some soft goals let up in our favor.

(Images courtesy of AP Photo)