When the Hurricanes visit the Garden for tomorrow’s suddenly fairly meaningful match (for an early January game, that is), the Rangers will be doing what they always do — and Ruslan Fedotenko just may be in there, doing it with his teammates.
“I know there’s a lot of talk about blocking shots, [but] we’re blocking shots and we’re going to continue to block shots,” coach John Tortorella said somewhat defiantly yesterday in the wake of Fedotenko on Sunday becoming the third Rangers forward this season — and the fourth in two years — to suffer a hand injury blocking a shot.
Tortorella said that Fedotenko, who sustained a “bad bruise” blocking Bryan McCabe’s right point drive midway through the first period of the 3-0 defeat in Florida, was feeling, “much better,” yesterday and might be able to go against Carolina.
“There’s no damage,” the coach said. “That’s good news.”
The Blueshirts, who have seemed somewhat spent the last couple of weeks, could use some good news. They have won just two of their last six (2-2-2) — the team’s poorest such stretch of the season — and are just six points up on the ninth-place Hurricanes after their 4-3 overtime loss last night at home against Florida, after which Carolina held two games in hand on the Blueshirts.
Speaking of hands, the extra layer of padding GM Glen Sather urged his players to have sewn into their gloves after Ryan Callahan suffered a broken hand in Pittsburgh on Dec. 15 may have saved Fedotenko from the same fate as the alternate captain. Chris Drury and Brandon Dubinsky previously suffered fractures blocking shots the last two seasons.
“Maybe,” said Tortorella. “The other guys broke their hands and this guy didn’t.”
*
Tortorella said that the coaching staff would evaluate Ryan McDonagh, who was promoted from the AHL Whale yesterday while Michael Del Zotto went the other way, over the next few days of practice.
“He is not playing Wednesday and there is no guarantee for Ryan [getting into a game],” Tortorella said of the 21-year-old rookie pro who signed with the Rangers over the summer following his junior year at Wisconsin. “I just want to look at him.
“As an NHL coach, I’d just like to see where he is at practice. He has grown as a player. I’m not looking for him to force his way into the lineup. Right now, he’s going to miss one [AHL] game [tomorrow]. It’s hard for me to tell you what’s going to happen because I don’t know.
A decision will come down the road.”
The Rangers are in Dallas on Friday and St. Louis on Saturday while the Whale play on the road those same nights.
*
The Rangers have no interest in re-acquiring post-lockout fan favorite Petr Prucha, who was placed on re-entry waivers yesterday by the Coyotes.