Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Henrik Lundqvist will play, Marc Staal won’t and Sean Avery’s a healthy scratch for Rangers

lundqviststaalap

James O’Brien

Perhaps you can break this morning’s New York Rangers personnel news into “Good, bad and ugly” categories (updates according to Steve Zipay).

Good: Despite “stiffness” in his neck, Henrik Lundqvist will play for the Rangers today. So much for him getting a break, though.

Bad: Workhorse defenseman Marc Staal, however, will not be able to play. While his injury is undisclosed, Zipay indicates that the problem might be a damaged knee, rather than an eye problem.

Ugly: Finally, Zipay reports that Sean Avery will be a healthy scratch once again. Avery’s pest act can be very “feast or famine,” so perhaps head coach John Tortorella thinks he’s been leaning toward famine too much lately.

The Rangers have a lot riding on this afternoon’s NBC Game of the Week against the Pittsburgh Penguins at 12:30 pm ET. It’s expected to be a matchup between Lundqvist and Marc-Andre Fleury in the nets today, so while both teams might be a few strides short of 100 percent, at least the goaltending should be at or near full-strength.