Steve Zipay tweets that Kris Newbury will be centering the fourth line tonight in Montreal with Dale Weise being the healthy scratch.

Andrew Gross adds that the goaltending match-up will be Lundqvist vs. Price.

...was starting to wonder when Newbury was going to get a chance. Too bad for Weise who is from the Montreal area and grew up idolizing the Habs. Wonder why Torts has Newbury at center? Guess he likes Dury better on the wing.

...looking forward to the All Star match-up in goal.

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As you can see by the above graphic tickets to Rangers/Flyers game at MSG can be real expensive. Lucky for you my friends over at TiqIQ have found tickets available for tomorrow night's game up to 49% below the average price.

The ticket program TiqIQ that I have a widget for on the right hand side has found these tickets at StubHub, Ebay and other ticketing sites.

I'm also seeing fans getting ridiculously low prices through EBay auctions. A word of caution on the EBay auctions, please make sure you research the seller. There are a lot of scam artists out there and the last thing you guys need is to be taken for a ride.

Just another service provided by The New York Rangers Blog.

To check out all the deals click here.

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...hope this isn't the Rangers consolation prize for not getting a Winter Classic in 2012.

...not a big fan of the NHL starting the season in Europe would rather be able to watch the season opener at night not noon. Games almost seem like preseason.

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...another in a long line of puzzling decisions by the NHL. Six games for saying "Sloppy Seconds" and none for spearing someone in the nether region.

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Adam Proteau at The Hockey News breaks down the Atlantic Division at their mid-season report...

NEW YORK RANGERS

THN pre-season prediction: 13th in East

Scoring leaders: Brandon Dubinsky, 37; Derek Stepan, 24; Marian Gaborik, 23.

Key stat: Rangers have won more road games than any NHL team (15-7-1), but are just 10-9-2 at home.

Biggest surprise: Brian Boyle. The 6-foot-7 behemoth put up just four goals and six points in 71 games for the Blueshirts last year, but currently sits second in team goal-scoring this season with 14 (and 22 points) in 44 games. Not bad for a guy who had 12 goals in 107 career NHL games prior to this year.

Biggest disappointment: Michael Del Zotto. Maybe he overachieved last season as a rookie defenseman who posted nine goals and 37 points in 80 games. Maybe we forget he’s still just 20 years old. But nobody imagined Del Zotto’s point production would be cut in half and he would lose the confidence of management to the point where he was assigned to the American League (as he was January 3) to re-establish his game.

What to expect: If the Rangers could play all their games away from Madison Square Garden, they’d be challenging the Flyers, Red Wings and Canucks for first place in the league. Unfortunately, their maddening inconsistency at home has the Blueshirts in third place in the competitive Atlantic Division and only a short losing streak away from being on the outside of the playoff picture.

That reality is in part behind GM Glen Sather’s recent acquisition of Wojtek Wolski (for D-man Michal Rozsival) and likely will lead to additional deals – perhaps, for a big-time player such as Dallas’ Brad Richards – prior to the Feb. 28 trade deadline. Sather has more than enough cap room to make such a move; his history suggests he cannot help himself if he gets the chance to do so again.

Otherwise, the Rangers would benefit from some stepped-up play by highly paid right winger Marian Gaborik, who has just one game-winning goal in 30 games played.

...this must have been an embarassing report for Proteau to put together knowing THN picked the Rangers to finish 13th in the East when they're currently sitting in 5th.

...i would have said you were crazy if you told be before the season Stepan would have more points than Gaborik after 45 games.

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Bergen Record - Ryan McDonagh settling into role with Rangers

New York Post - McDonagh's finding niche with Rangers

Daily News - Blueshirts' Gaborik stays positive through long goal-scoring drought

Newsday - McDonagh making case to stick around

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Update, 1:50 p.m.:
Torts says that "each game is better" for Ryan McDonagh and really liked how he approached last night's challenge.

Update, 1:45 p.m.:
Marian Gaborik said that maybe missing a month messed with his timing a bit, but he has no health issues right now.

Gaborik also admitted its been a tough season.

Original Post:
Jesse Spector reports that Boyle, Prust, Fedotenko, Dubinsky, Staal and Girardi were all given the day off from practice today before heading out to Montreal.

...very much deserving day off for those guys. Especially Boyle who must have blocked 100 shots on the 5-on-3 pk alone last night.

...hope Torts is giving Gaborik some extra shooting practice.

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Arthur Staple at Newsday says that the way the Rangers controlled the game against the Canucks last night was very Devils-like...

"It was Lamoriello-esque, really. With a couple of exceptions, the Rangers have become what their one-time coach, the quotable Colin Campbell, used to call the Devs during Jersey's heyday: They are pretty much an interchangeable flock of forwards."

...while refering to the Rangers as anything even remotely related to the Devils makes me sick, if it means they'll win a few cups the way the Devils did I'm all in.

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Jesse Spector at the Blueshirts Blog reports that Derek Boogaard is no where near close to returning to the Rangers lineup...

Torts on whether there is any update on Derek Boogaard's health...

"Nope. We're trying to stimulate him, trying to get him moving around, but he still doesn't feel well."

Torts on how long it might take for Boogaard to return to the lineup...

"Very difficult. Conditioning. Yeah, it will be very difficult."

Torts on whether the difficulty is with speculating on a timetable, or if that referred to the toughness of rehab...

"Both. It's just something we have to wait out, and it will be very difficult as far as a lineup. But again, I can't – we'll see what happens. But he's not close."

...and the Boogaard signing just keeps getting better.

...i really thought he'd serve an important role on this team, but to tell you the truth I like the current Rangers team without him.

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Dave Lozo at NHL.com has a great feature on the Rangers young defensive corps including this quote from Marc Staal...

"We're pretty young. We're bugging Emmy now. He's the oldest guy here. He's a big wily veteran," Staal said. "We're a confident group. I think we're all going to learn each day and keep getting better and just try to do our best job to defend the right way."

Here's Henrik Lundqvist on what makes them so effective...

"They're playing well. They're playing confident," Lundqvist said. "They play with a lot of speed. They're good skaters. It helps the way they skate and move the puck. I think everybody looks confident out there."

...assuming the Rangers still want to bring a veteran defenseman for the stretch run and playoffs. But seriously who would you take out? And the Rangers still have Del Zotto building up his confidence down in Hartford.

...got to be really impressed with the McD-Gilroy pair. I was concerned when those two were initially paired but Gilroy seems to get better every game and McD is following the footsteps of other Ranger rookies this season of being NHL ready.

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