The Ottawa Senators will be without their top two centers, Jason Spezza and Mike Fisher, when they host the Rangers tonight. The Rangers will probably dress the same lineup that lost to the Isles the other evening, and according to Sam Weinman's blog, the top line of Michael Nylander, Martin Straka, and Jaromir Jagr will be reunited.
In other roster moves, Jed Ortmeyer was sent to Hartford for a second conditioning stint, while Sandis Ozolinsh was put on IR for a mystery knee injury (probably incurred while begging Glen Sather not to send him to Hartford).
NY Daily News: Jagr has been particularly unproductive in recent weeks. He has failed to score a goal in eight of the Rangers' last nine games. He has had two shots on goal or fewer in six of those games - only avoiding a seventh by launching several late in Tuesday's loss to the Islanders. Meanwhile, contrary to what they envisioned when they signed Brendan Shanahan, Aaron Ward and Matt Cullen and traded for Adam Hall this summer, the Rangers aren't any tougher or more resilient than they were last season.
NY Post: "In an 82-game season, winning teams know how to win," 18-year veteran Brendan Shanahan said. "You just try to look for positive things to build on."
NY Times: At the middle of the Rangers’ six-game losing streak sits a captain with no easy answers. The losses have been difficult for Jaromir Jagr, who serves as the team’s leader and the primary engine of its sputtering offense. Neither job has come easy lately.
The Journal News: There are 12-year-old hockey fans out there who could tell you a way to beat the Rangers is to limit the time and space available to their most dynamic player. This is hardly groundbreaking territory when it comes to Jaromir Jagr. The difference lately is how that idea might be gaining more traction.
The Hockey Rodent: Lotsa threads urging Blueshirt Boss Glen Sather to jettison such-and-such an underachiever or obtain this-or-that pipe dream for peanuts along with the cap exemption necessary to avoid CBA armageddon. Yes. That's the proper way to negotiate an exchange... Bargain from weakness why don't you?
Tonight, the Rangers try to avoid their seventh loss in a row as they travel across the border. The puck drops at 7:30 pm EST.
HDH
Posted by Jim at December 29, 2006 01:18 PMeMail this entry!
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