Friday, April 22, 2011

Rangers Change Lines Not Personnel for Game 5


Going into their do or die Game 5 matchup with the Capitals, head coach John Tortorella is keeping the same personnel in the lineup, but tinkering with how they combine.  According to Andrew Gross of Ranger Rants, the offensive lines seen to close Game 4 will be the ones used to start Game 5 and not those which were announced prior to Game 4.  The lines were as follows:

Fedotenko - Dubinsky - Gaborik

Avery - Boyle - Prust
Wolski - Anisimov - Stepan
Prospal - Christensen - Drury
The change is a swap of Prospal and Wolski, which is somewhat surprising given that Wolski only played 9:40 in Game 4 while Prospal played 26:04.  The move could signify that Wolski is getting another chance to use his skill in a more important role or that Tortorella might ride his veterans more and play Christensen and Drury more while the young guys take a secondary role in the elimination game. 

On defense everyone will remain the same so Steve Eminger is out again.