.jpg?1338863190)
The Rangers could be receiving some fresh bodies for tonight's Game 5 against the New Jersey Devils.
According Rangers Report, Brandon Dubinsky, Mats Zuccarello and Kris Newbury all practiced with the team today. Not surprisingly, head coach John Tortorella said Brandon Prust will return to the lineup following his one-game suspension for Game 4.
Reports said John Mitchell remained on the ice after the team wrapped up, leaving many to believe he's going to be the odd-man out of the lineup tonight, especially since Dubinsky left the ice with the other regulars. All signs point to Dubinsky being in the lineup tonight. He missed the entire series with the Washington Capitals and was obviously out of the lineup through the first four games against New Jersey.
It appears the Steve Eminger experiment will conclude tonight as well, as Stu Bickel will move back to defense after spending Game 4 as a forward.
These moves make sense. The Rangers will play in their 19th game of the postseason, making a lot of these guys pretty tired. Having Dubinsky come into the lineup after a few weeks rest could be beneficial. He had a good series against the Senators and suffered a bad break.
I would also flirt with the possibility of putting Zuccarello back in and taking Ruslan Fedotenko or Mike Rupp out for a game. The team needs offense, and Zuccarello definitely brings more than those two players.
Eminger and Bickel are basically interchangeable at this point, so who cares?
Follow Matt on Twitter @MattCalamia
Written by:
