If coach Tom Renney is thinking about scuttling the Scott Gomez-Chris Drury and Brandon Dubinsky-Nikolai Zherdev tandems in order to present a more balanced lineup featuring Drury in the middle of the second line and Dubinsky in the middle of the third unit for Saturday’s opener in Prague against the Lightning, then the head coach is simply over-thinking the issue.
For even given the combination of the inferior nature of the opposition, the larger ice surface and the absence of physical play all together in last night’s 8-1 victory over SC Bern in Bern, there’s no mistaking the chemistry the centers have displayed with their respective right wingers over the last two preseason matches.
Should the combinations remain intact, there’s no doubt that Markus Naslund, who rested last night, will skate with Gomez and Drury. There’s a question whether Nigel Dawes, a scratch, or Aaron Voros, who consistently got his big body to the net while skating on the second unit, will get the first call with Dubinsky and Zherdev.
And there’s the question of where Petr Prucha, who took Naslund’s spot yesterday, will fit in the opening roster that must be submitted to the NHL on Friday.
Actually, the larger question is whether Prucha fits at all if he isn’t a top six forward. That’s probably the most challenging issue confronting both Renney and GM Glen Sather in constructing the team.
Can the Rangers afford to carry Prucha at $1.6M if he’s going to either get minimal minutes on the fourth line or serve as spare?
Or, turning it around, can the Rangers afford to simply give away Prucha, for whom there’s essentially no market at the moment?
Dawes has not necessarily had a better camp than Prucha, but Dawes has been a better defensive forward than the 26-year-old Prucha, whose goals have dipped from 30 to 22 to 7 over his first three years in the NHL while his minutes have decreased from 13:41 to 12:59 to 11:38, and his power play time has diminished as well from 3:49 to 2:53 to 1:38 per.
With one exhibition game remaining – the Victoria Cup match in Bern tonight against reigning European champion and KHL representative Magnitogorsk Metallurg – it appears as if Lauri Korpikoski is closing in on the assignment as third-line center. That would leave Prucha, Blair Betts, Patrick Rissmiller, Dan Fritsche and Fredrik Sjostrom competing for the final three or four forward positions, depending upon whether the club carries one or two extras.
There’s also one decision ahead regarding the blue line, where Corey Potter seems to have moved ahead of Brian Fahey for the spot as seventh defenseman.
The match tonight will be first between an NHL club and a Russian club since Jan. 15, 1991, when Moscow Dynamo beat the Nordiques, 4-1. . . . The Rangers have never beaten a team from Russia, going 0-3 at the Garden against the Red Army in exhibitions played during the 1975-76, 1979-80 and 1990-91 seasons, and 0-1 at MSG against the Soviet Wings during 1989-90. . . . Leading 2-1 early in third, Blueshirts got six in period and four in final 10 minutes to blow out Bern. . . . Paired again with Michal Rozsival, Wade Redden had his best game of the pre-season, by far.