This afternoon's match-up between the Rangers and the Hurricanes will either be slightly watered down, or will feature some wounded players.

Of course, Martin Rucinsky is still out, but he is skating, which is encouraging. Fedor Tyutin is listed as day-to-day with an injured finger he suffered in last night's game against Carolina. It is not certain if he will sit today. Both Martin Straka (groin) and Michael Nylander (ankle) did not skate in practice yesterday, and Nylander is expected to miss today's game. Chad Wiseman was recalled to replace him. (This was reported in the Hartford Courant, at the end of the article covering the Wolf Pack's win over the Sound Tiger's).

For the 'Canes, Eric Staal has a bruised lower back and his status is unknown. Same goes for Rod Brind'amour, who missed Thursday's game with a groin pull.

After bringing him up for one game, the Rangers returned Dale Purinton to Hartford. I guess they are trying to peck away at his suspension a game at a time.

NY Post: "We can't hand pucks off to these guys," Renney said after practice yesterday. "We've got to make sure that we are, in the case of Carolina, at least as hard a working a team as they are, if not more so."

The Journal News: Despite a broken left ring finger that was encased in gauze and a soft cast yesterday, Rangers defenseman Fedor Tyutin doesn't expect to miss much time.

The Star Ledger: Fedor Tyutin suffered a nondisplaced fracture of his left ring finger during Thursday's game in Carolina and is likely to miss today's afternoon rematch with the Hurricanes at Madison Square Garden, according to Rangers coach Tom Renney.

The puck drops at 1:00 pm EST. Enjoy the game.

HDH

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