Rangers who did not play last night due to injury include Michael Del Zotto, Arron Asham, Darroll Powe and Rick Nash.
Ryan Callahan said on HNL last night that injuries are no excuse for the Rangers, “they are key guys, but the guys we have playing are capable.”
John Tortorella was asked about the injuries and responded “what can you do?” He added that the team needs to keep on playing and that some kids got a chance to play last night.
Del Zotto said after the morning skate yesterday that he was feeling better.
Marc Staal was also questionable heading into last night with the flu.
Staal played nearly 28 minutes last night and had four giveaways.
On HNL last night, Ken Daneyko said that when a team gets into a situation like this, it is “demoralizing.”
2:26PM: The Rangers have announced that Rick Nash WILL not join the team in Montreal for tomorrow night’s game.
10:33AM: According to Katie Strang, the Rangers have provided no update on whether Rick Nash will join the Rangers for tomorrow’s game in Montreal.
Nash did not make the trip to Ottawa yesterday but it was mentioned on the broadcast last night that the team was hoping he could join them in Montreal.
Lucic told Joe Haggerty of CSNNE that the hit was clean and “I think he’s like 6-foot-4 and it was one of those things where I hit him and his head hit the glass [afterward]. It’s unfortunate for them and it’s unfortunate for Rick that he might be out because of that hit.”
He adds that he has only faced supplemental discipline once in his career and says that he isn’t a dirty player.
Ottawa fans won't get a chance to boo Rick Nash, who refused to be dealt here last summer, because he won't be with the Rangers. #Sens— Bruce Garrioch (@SunGarrioch) February 20, 2013
Yesterday, Katie Strang reported at ESPN NY that neither Nash nor the Rangers were happy with the hit from Lucic and felt he should have been penalized.
Today in the NY Post, Larry Brooks writes, “the Rangers aren’t saying anything about the condition of Nash, who played two days after taking the unpenalized hit and then again three days after that despite a couple of days that we know of, when he wasn’t feeling well. No one is saying whether No. 61 is suffering post-concussion symptoms. Perhaps more to the point, no one is saying he isn’t.”
Carp from Rangers Report writes, “The top-secrecy of the whole thing kinda makes it sound worse.”
John Tortorella has not commented on Nash and has said that he won’t comment on injuries this season.
The Rangers practice at 12PM today.
Adam Rotter: Speculation is running wild with Nash and I think part of the reason is to try and get John Tortorella to open up, at least a little bit, about why Nash is out. Tortorella is just trying to protect his player, but if it were something physical, like Ryan Callahan’s shoulder injury, the team would make an announcement about it.
When it comes to concussions, the Rangers have experience with Marc Staal, Michael Sauer, Brian Boyle, Marian Gaborik and now Darroll Powe. It’s hard to know if it’s a concussion because you see guys like Sauer, Powe and Boyle leave the game, but Marc Staal played through most of his concussion and Nash finished the game against the Bruins and scored in the shootout.
In the NY Post, Rick Nash spoke about how every player on the Rangers understands that without a proper defensive structure, they won’t be able to create offense.
Nash said, “We’re thinking defense first and we’re trying to gain all of our offense from defense. No matter what line you’re on, that’s how you approach it.”
Dave Maloney, on ESPN Radio last night, talked about how playing for john Tortorella requires a complete buy-in to the concept, “If you are outside the box at all you have a tough time playing for the coach. As this thing kind of rolls along you get the feeling that guys are falling into line. It takes time for a coach to trust a player in certain situations.”
The Rangers number one line in recent games has seen Carl Hagelin on the left, Derek Stepan in the middle and Rick Nash on the right.
When asked why two young players in Stepan in Hagelin are so comfortable playing with a star like Nash, John Tortorella told the Daily News, “I just don’t think they are afraid. I think sometimes when you start playing with top players, you end up trying to get them the puck all the time or you just change your game because you might be a little nervous about it. Hags is a very confident guy, which is good, and Step is a guy that’s been here and understands the personnel. I thought played his best game of the year in Boston. He was killing penalties, everything, strong on the puck. He is a guy that needs to be able to do that. We had him kind of looking in as a second line center here for this year. Right now he’s playing on our top line. So he can handle that.”
Joe Micheletti, on the MSG Post game show that “game after game” Hagelin has been the Rangers best player,”It just seems like he never gets tired. He is non-stop and he makes things happen whether he has the puck or not.”
Micheletti says that what makes those two work well together is that Stepan is able to put the puck in a place where Hagelin can make something happen with his legs.
Adam Rotter: Stepan doesn’t have the points that Hagelin and Nash have had on that line, but his game has been rock solid at both ends of the ice. His faceoffs, besides a big struggle in the first period against the Islanders, have improved dramatically and he is around 50%.
9:46AM: In the NY Post, Brooks recounts that Lucic used his forearm to drive Nash’s head into the boards and writes, “Now, a few days later, Nash isn’t feeling well. And though it may be a coincidence, it may not be one, either.”
He adds “As long as the Department of Player Safety is or feels bound to give the benefit of the doubt to the transgressor rather than the victim, it is not living up to its charge to make the game safer.
2/16/13- 5:35PM: Larry Brooks tweets:
Have to hope there’s no connection between whatever Nash is feeling and having his head slammed into boards by Lucic on Tues in Bost.
Lucic used forearm to drive Nash’s head into boards to finish check. Nash then responded with marginal hook. One penalty called. Guess who?
