Cally Back; Eminger In; Boyle, Bickel, Girardi Out
In a piece of tremendous news, Andrew Gross at the Bergen Record reports that Ryan Callahan participated in line drills during the morning skate and will play on a line with J.T. Miller and Chris Kreider tonight against the Islanders.
To make room for Callahan in the line-up, Brian Boyle will be a healthy scratch. Steve Zipay at Newsday has this from Boyle on taking a seat in the press box...
"Nobody's fault but mine. No moral victories when you're 4-5...not for lack of effort. I work as hard as I can every day. It's focus, don't have edge I need"
Unfortunately, there was some bad news this morning also, as Dan Girardi will miss his second straight game tonight. He tested his injury (likely foot/ankle) during the skate, but came off before line rushes began. Gross notes that Tortorella would only say Girardi is still "banged up"and is "day-to-day."
Steve Eminger will fill in for Girardi meaning Stu Bickel will be the healthy scratch.
Here are the lines from practice:
Marian Gaborik-Brad Richards-Taylor Pyatt
Carl Hagelin-Derek Stepan-Rick Nash
Chris Kreider-J.T. Miller-Ryan Callahan
Arron Asham-Jeff Halpern-Darroll Powe
Marc Staal-Anton Stralman
Ryan McDonagh-Steve Eminger
Michael Del Zotto-Matt Gilroy
No word on the starting goaltender, but I assume it'll be Henrik Lundqvist.
...so much for two weeks on Cally. Great to see him back and ready to go, but hope they're not rushing him because of the Rangers recent uninspired play. Interesting to see Torts put him on a line with the two kids.
...to be honest I'm not a fan of the lines. I know Pyatt started the season hot, but he has no business being on the top line. Would rather see Cally in that spot.
...officially starting to panic with the Girardi injury. Good that he at least attempted to skate on it today. Not good that he couldn't finish the practice.
...kudos to Torts for finally getting Eminger in there for Bickel. The only reason Bickel should be in the line-up at this point is if a physical game is anticipated.
Remember to follow me on Twitter & Facebook or e-mail me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
We're not anticipating the kind of game that we could use Bickel? Who is going to drop the gloves, if necessary?
The only change I'd make to those lines is putting Gaborik with Stepan because they have had some success together.
Other than that they look fine to me. I really like that 4th line as well.
But too bad 5 on 5 isn't this teams problem. It's the special teams. So with that being said what is their plan for the PP tonight?
BTW, I have a feeling tonight is going to be one of those shoot from everywhere as much as possible type of games. And then they'll go back to their usual crap on Sunday.
This top line doesn't really inspire me. I have a bad feeling boys and girls...
@KevinDeLury what do you think about a Stralman-Richards-Kreider-Nash-Gaborik PP stick nash infront of the net since his shot hasnt been there and maybe collect some garbage goals with his big frame and gain some confidence scoring again. kreider and gaborik near the circles to utilize their shots with time and space with richards and stralman at the points
@nyr4life @KevinDeLury don't like it because our of the guys on top I trust none of them, in terms of defensive responsibility. Would rather have McDonaugh or staal up too.
@slapshot13j @KevinDeLury but how can you not trust stralman there when he has never gotten a fair shake as the PP point man
@slapshot13j @nyr4life @KevinDeLury Stralman had 34 points in 73 games with CBJ 2009-2010 (a horrible offensive team). He deserves a shot.
@nyr4life @KevinDeLury I think Stralman could be good from an offensive perspective, but you need someone that can do both. To me McDonaugh is a better fit.
Great news about Cally, not so much about Girardi, but hopefully it's just precautionary. I do like the crash and dash 3rd line! Couple things I don't get though. Gabby needs space to be successful, Nash draws 2-3 players to him every rush (hence creating space), why split them up? I'd rather see Stepan centering them and Hags with Richards. Second, since MDZ is not exactly Larry Robinson in his own zone, why put him with Gilroy who was a -876 with the Whale? I'd rather see MDZ with McDonagh since he could probably cover up for some of his mistakes. Unless, of course MDZ is being punished by getting moved to the 3rd pair so won't see much ice time, which I'm OK with. Should be interesting to see Stralman get bigger minutes. I think he's been very underrated and solid. Hank's gotta play tonight. Can't sit him 2 of 3 games with a loss in between.
@gravey94 Agree on Stralman, he has been very solid so far. Would love to see him get more power play time.
@KevinDeLury @gravey94 -- really glad to these this from the Swede (that Kevin didn't recognize when he said Hagelin should've been in the Sportscenter commercial with Lundquist ... ahem, cough cough) ... Stralman has been stepping it up, and nothing less is expected of him ... he's got a big job to do
Kevin, I agree...Pyatt doesn't belong in that line! Let's be honest..Boyle is just one of the entire team that has lost their edge!
leave cally on that kids line.. they now have a comfort zone knowing that the captain and defensive backbone as forwards go is on that line with them and torts will trust them. i think that line can do some serious damage and they will play a TON tonight
You might see Cally on that top line once its clear he is playing well. Also, Pyatt will not be there for his offense, he will be the defensive player and the size for that line...Cally can do one, but you cant teach size. I don't think it will be bad.
You say callahan on that top line, but not would I love to see Kreider on that top line, he had great chemistry with Richards last game too. Also, like what he did with Nash because he can create on his own and would love to see him get Stepan and Hagelin going that would be huge. Props to torts for sitting Boyle, he has done nothing yet this year, this will let him clear his head hopefully. Really worried about Girardi I hope it's not a broken ankle or stress fracture. We can't afford to lose our top dman. And yes I put him ahead of McDonaug... Callahan is a true warrior for coming back tonight, but I really hope he is not still hurt when he goes out there tonight
And also without girardi our defensive pairings are a joke. We need help back there soon if girardi is out long term.
1 Like
Cally is freaking superman! No idea how he is back so quickly but they better not be rushing him. Personally I would've held him out one more game just to be safe.
Disagree on the lines. Pyatt is a solid player and I have no problem with him being anywhere from 1st to 4th line (when he's on 4th line, I assume that means our lines are really clicking). I watched him in Phoenix and he would regularly get time with Doan and make him a better player. That said, I'm sure Cally isn't there because they want to attempt to hold him back a little bit tonight. I say attempt because knowing Cally he'll manage to play 20 minutes no matter what.
I've been on the level of near panic since Tuesday night with Girardi. The only player who is more of a superman than Cally is Girardi because that guy plays through EVERYTHING meaning whatever this is would probably have most of us lying miserably in a hospital bed :-/
@KevinDeLury Don't say that!!! I'm trying not to panic!!! (Although if you looked through my twitter feed, you would see I'm not succeeding LOL)
Didn't Girardi block a shot with his skate the other night? Probably right with the foot/ankle region...
Love having the Captain with the 2 new recruits, I love that line on paper, we'll see how it goes tonight. I think Gaborik and Nash are due for a big game. Hopefully the Isles don't slaughter us.
1 Like
Kevin don't forget Pyatt played on Vancouver's top line with the Sedins an had a 20+ goal season.
@jmNYR Actually forgot that. Would still rather Cally be on that line, but hoping for the best.
Boyle has possibly played himself off this team and if Miller stays up he will be gone.
