The Rangers missing superstar Marian Gaborik who has been out since Oct 15th with a separated shoulder from a Colby Armstrong hit said today that after tomorrow's practice he will know if he is coming back Thursday vs Buffalo or Sunday against Edmonton. That news is according to Jesse Spector and Andrew Gross. Obviously this is going to be a welcomed addition to the Rangers lineup when you get your best offensive threat back and hopefully the Dubinsky-Anisimov-Callahan line will continue their high play and Gaborik will be on a line that gives them some help. How strange would it be to have two lines that can actually score the puck?
More thoughts inside
As much as the talk is about how tomorrow's practice and how he feels will determine when Gaborik comes back I would not be surprised to later find out that the outcome and performance tonight played a role in deciding his return date. If the Rangers come out and play well, especially offensively they will probably take the more cautious approach and bring him back Sunday, but if it is another lackluster effort that has offensive struggles I would expect him back Thursday.
As I have said before, though possibly not on here, when Gaborik comes back at least the initial few games I would leave the Dubinsky-Anisimov-Callahan line as the top line and work Gaborik back in against some potentially weaker competition on the 2nd line, though likely giving him top PP time. Tonight's game one way or the other is going to go a long way to determining when he comes back and who gets the first chance to skate with #10 when he returns.
