Lineup Change On Broadway: Hurricanes at Rangers, Game Day Preview

by Bob Wage on Oct 29, 2010 2:15 PM EDT

The Carolina Hurricanes, (4-4-0) are in the "Big Apple" to take on the New York Rangers, (4-3-1) in Madison Square Garden at 7 tonight. The Canes are coming off a 3-0 shutout at the hands of the Washington Capitals while the Rangers were most recently defeated by the Atlanta Thrashers, 6-4.

The Hurricanes will shuffle their lineup a bit for this game. John Forslund is reporting that Jiri Tlusty and Patrick O`Sullivan will both see action, while Zac Dalpe and Drayson Bowman will sit out. The exact lines are not known yet, but my best guess is that they will remain the same, meaning that O'Sullivan and Tlusty will work from the fourth line.

This will be Tlusty's first start this season as he has been recovering from offseason knee surgery. The Canes are expecting big things from the Czech native as they traded away former first round pick Philippe Paradis for his rights.

Look for these lines, at least to start out with. Keep in mind, the coaching staff has been mixing and matching the defensive pairings throughout most games.

Staal, Jokinen, LaRose
Sutter, Kostopoulos, Samsonov
Ruutu, Skinner, Cole
Dwyer, Tlusty O'Sullivan
Pitkanen, Babchuk
Gleason, Corvo
McBain, Harrison

Cam Ward will go against "King" Henrik Lundqvist. Ward is 7-7-1 in 16 career appearances against NY while Lundqvist is 8-6-1 lifetime against Carolina.

	GP	MIN	W	L	EGA	GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
2010 - Cam Ward	7	385	4	3		19	2.68	252	233	.925	0

	GP	MIN	W	L	EGA	GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
2010 - Henrik Lundqvist	6	360	3	2		18	3.00	204	186	.912	0

The Rangers are facing injury issues and superstar Marian Gaborik and dependable Chris Drury are both out. Derek Boogaard will also sit and Evgeny Grachev will take his spot. The blueshirts are led in scoring by Brandon Dubinsky, Ryan Callahan, and Sean Avery.

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2010 - Brandon Dubinsky	8	4	4	8	0	6	1	1	0		22

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2010 - Ryan Callahan	8	2	6	8	1	2	1	0	1		28

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2010 - Sean Avery	8	1	6	7	3	25	0	0	0		21

For more info about the Rangers, check out our SBN partners at Blueshirt Banter and SBN New York. Larry Brooks also has some info here.

The Canes are led in scoring by Eric Staal, Jussi Jokinen, and Joni Pitkanen. (That's right, a defenseman is in the top three in scoring.)

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2010 - Eric Staal	8	3	3	6	-2	10	0	1	0		31

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2010 - Jussi Jokinen	8	2	4	6	-5	4	2	0	0		13

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2010 - Joni Pitkanen	8	1	4	5	1	4	0	0	0		20

The Canes are looking for a come back performance tonight but they won't be getting any sympathy from the New Yorkers because they are trying to rebound from a slow, 1-2-1 record so far at home. Can Carolina get back on track?

Look for Marc Staal to give brother Eric a tough time as usual.

The broadcast will be on FS Carolinas and 99.9 The Fan. Our open game thread will be starting up at 6:30.

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Comments

Depending on Tlusty’s recovery in terms of game conditioning, I’d like to see Tlusty/Sutter/Samsonov tried as as line tonight.

by abramsdoug on Oct 29, 2010 2:43 PM EDT reply actions

Exactly.KO is better for us on the 4th line. And I anxious to see Tlusty and he does, and see how he handles wearing a knee brace for the rest of this season.

by hotchipsnsalsa on Oct 29, 2010 3:06 PM EDT up reply actions

more likely to see O’Sullivan up on the 2nd line.

by Killswitch on Oct 29, 2010 5:51 PM EDT up reply actions

For how many mins AD ?

on paper that looks good but will they have the same zip as Staal,Jokinen,LaRose ?? hehehe…

Love your community,state
and nation by going out
And VOTE !!

by CaniacSteve on Oct 29, 2010 3:04 PM EDT reply actions

Marc Staal always seems to neutralize Eric when playing him (usually with borderline illegal play).

Pitkanen will certainly be a story to follow… He is going to score plenty of points and have a boatload of trade value come the deadline. I wonder if Whitney burning them last year will play into their decision on whether to trade him or keep him if he still isn’t signed by the deadline.

by JussiJuice on Oct 29, 2010 3:15 PM EDT reply actions

JR typically doesnt negotiate contracts during the season, Cam was the only exception I believe.

by Killswitch on Oct 29, 2010 5:50 PM EDT up reply actions

That is part of my point… They are playing a dangerous game now with Joni just like they were with Ray last year. Do you think, barring him re-signing which might be best case scenario, the Canes keep him come trade deadline when he is likely the hottest pending UFA Offensive D (a hot Playoff commodity).

by JussiJuice on Oct 29, 2010 6:27 PM EDT up reply actions

JR will know whether he can resign him or not at the deadline when its more clear what his market value will be. I’m sure there are subtle conversations between JR, agents and players regarding whether they want to stay. If they want to stay, pay them whats fair and they’ll re-up. Totally different with Ray IMO, he rejected a trade and no other team wanted to give up what JR was asking for so he kept him for a playoff push. He knew he wasn’t going to re-sign.

by Killswitch on Oct 29, 2010 6:44 PM EDT up reply actions

I actually wouldnt be surprised if part of the reason JR lets players play out their contract is because he holds a lot of stock in the motivation that comes with increasing their value as much as possible before they hit the market. He’s mentioned it a couple times about players playing better in contract years. On the other hand, if they do play better, he’ll have to pay more to re-sign them.

by Killswitch on Oct 29, 2010 7:07 PM EDT up reply actions

Kostopoulos is a solid player for this team as a 4th liner, totally agree with AD. It seems like the team could take a less conservative approach to the lineup. I think too much value is placed on players who don’t make many mistakes, and not enough value on a players ability to score. Don’t get me wrong, I think it is a good idea to lean on solid if unspectacular players to some degree, but take a chance would ya? Give Dalpe a shot on the top 9 on a wing. Same with Bowman. See what he can do there. Dwyer and Kostopoulos are solid players for the team and with 3rd make a very trustworthy 4th line. Let’s not go nuts, but give a chance to your younger guys who you obviously saw some scoring potential in when they were drafted.
That being said the lines may not look the same at the end of the game as it did at the start.

by Hockeydog on Oct 29, 2010 3:17 PM EDT reply actions

+2

Love your community,state
and nation by going out
And VOTE !!

by CaniacSteve on Oct 29, 2010 3:32 PM EDT up reply actions

Agreed. Dalpe is the only one that hasn’t really got a shot at top 9 minutes. I’ve really liked his play, so I don’t understand that.

If Staal can play like he did in LA on a nightly basis, he will be the 100 point player we all expect him to be!

by PackPride17 on Oct 29, 2010 4:32 PM EDT up reply actions

Some really GREAT news for Dish subscribers as well as out-of-market Center Ice subscribers!

Via Mike Sundheim on twitter:

@MikeSundheim Great news for Canes fans with Dish RT @Ourand_SBJ: Fox and Dish Network deal is official http://bit.ly/cgYUB7

@MikeSundheim Fox release says programming restored immediately on Dish Network. Canes fans can watch tonight’s game vs. Rangers at 7.

Phoblographer and Finn Aficionado
SISU

by Jamie Kellner on Oct 29, 2010 5:28 PM EDT reply actions