DETROIT — Michael Del Zotto was in the Rangers lineup and Steve Eminger was out for the fourth consecutive game, but John Tortorella said prior to the 3-2 loss to the Red Wings that evaluations and decisions would follow the match.
“With Michael, it’s still a part of the process [where we have to decide] is it best for him to be here or is it best for him to be there in Hartford,”Tortorella said of the 20-year-old. “Emmy has been fighting it, but we have to realize that he’s given us good minutes.”
Del Zotto was assigned to the AHL Whale on Jan. 3 before being recalled originally on Jan. 24 after Dan Girardi sustained a rib cage injury. The sophomore played two games, returned to the Whale over the NHL All-Star break, then was recalled when play resumed last Tuesday.
Last night’s match thus marked his sixth straight on the blue line, a stretch during which he has appeared skittish at times, both at even strength and while trying to quarterback a power play that fell into complete disrepair in Saturday’s 2-0 defeat in Montreal, able to muster one shot on net in 8:00 of man-advantage time.
The Rangers were 0-for-4 again last night in 6:40 that included a 44-second five-on-three with 2:24 remaining in the third period. Indeed, the rangers played the final 3:40 with the man advantage though Del Zotto was not called on. The sophomore played 51 seconds on the power play, and 15:32 overall.
“I’m not sure what’s going to happen,” the coach said before the match. “I still think Michael is a work in progress. We have to figure out what’s best for him because that’s what’s going to be best for the organization.
“After this, we have a few days [before Friday’s game in Atlanta] to see what we have. We’ll make a decision over the next few days.”
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In the third periods of the Rangers’ past three games, they outshot the Devils 15-2 at the Garden on Thursday, outshot the Canadiens 19-6 in Montreal on Saturday, and outshot the Red Wings 18-5 last night.
They lost all three in regulation, falling short each time after trailing each time entering the third. The Rangers have surrendered the first goal in seven of their last eight games and in 17 of their past 24, a fairly disturbing trend.
“We’ve been able to come back almost all year,” said Martin Biron
, who was fine in his second consecutive start. “I thought we were going to be in that situation again.”
Tortorella said he made the decision to go with the understudy based on the combination of Biron’s excellent performance in Montreal and his belief that Henrik Lundqvist
needs more time to work on his game.
“I thought Marty was solid and I felt Hank’s been struggling,” said Tortorella, no doubt sending another message to his No. 1, whom he blasted into following Thursday’s 3-2 loss to the Devils at the Garden. “This gives us a solid week to work on Hank’s game, also.”
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Trailing 1-0 entering the third, the Rangers tied the score at 3:09 when Derek Stepan
went to the net to convert Matt Gilroy
‘s diagonal feed from the right blue line following strong work on the boards by Erik Christensen
and a neat pass from Wojtek Wolski
.
But the Rangers gave it right back 1:55 later when coverage confusion reigned after Michael Sauer
failed to get the puck out along his left boards. It seemed as if the entire Brandon Dubinsky
–Marian Gaborik-Vinny Prospal
line was unsure, perhaps because Dubinsky was playing his second shift of the season at center.
Tortorella, however, said that had nothing to do with it.
“Dubi had trouble with his reads all night,” the coach said. “We miss a coverage after we score a huge goal. They capitalize.”
*
Sean Avery
played another formidable game, setting up Dubinsky at 15:55 of the third to bring the Rangers back within 3-2. The winger was strong on the boards and in behind the net, but he failed to score for the 13th straight game and remains stuck on two goals.
Avery had a glorious opportunity 5:50 into the second, sent in alone straight down the gut by Mats Zuccarello
, but his wrist shot glanced off the knob of goaltender Jimmy Howard
‘s stick. Avery threw his head back and brought his hands to his face in disbelief.
“I mean, the knob of his stick,” said Avery, who needed stitches to close the wound on his mouth he received when high-sticked by Justin Abdelkader
with 2:24 to go in the third. “It’s getting ridiculous.”