Erik Christensen Out 4-6 Weeks With Sprained MCL

According to multiple reports, New York Rangers Center Erik Christensen has been diagnosed with a second degree sprain to his right MCL and will be out of the lineup anywhere from four to six weeks.  Christensen sustained the injury last night during the second period when he was knocked into the post, where he immediately grabbed for the knee.  He would not return to the game and now we know for how long he will be missing.  Christensen, 27, has totaled six goals and eight assists for 14 points in 37 games this season for the team and while he has played at times with star Marian Gaborik his biggest contributions of late have been in the shootout.   The Rangers have already recalled Dale Weise from Hartford to take Christensen’s place on the roster, but questions about the lineup have not yet been answered.

Roster News: Dale Weise Recalled Following Erik Christensen Injury

During the second period of tonight's game Rangers forward Erik Christensen went crashing into the goal post and immediately grabbed for his knee.  He would not return for the rest of the game with what was described as a lower leg injury, but it was clear it was his knee, though no word on the severity at this point.  With the injury to Christensen, per Mitch Beck at HowlingsToday the team recalled Dale Weise from Connecticut which I think would have happened soon even without an injury thanks to the moving of Todd White to the Whale earlier today.  Weise showed himself well in his only game against the Flyers and will be a solid energy player on the fourth line if Christensen is out for any length of time, but once again there will be more line juggling.

Rangers Show Again This Year Is Different As Prust Starts, Christensen Finishes Comeback Win

You can say a lot of things about this incarnation of the Rangers, but one thing you cannot say is that they quit.  This team may look ugly in doing it, but they are finding ways to win games and they are doing it by continuing to battle until the bitter end.  There are only so many times you can play that way, but the great thing about wins like this is it reinforces the idea of continuing to battle and play the game the way you know how to.  When you are rewarded for sticking with your system, you buy into the system more and more and then hopefully you will not need to win so many like this, but the confidence will be there if you do fall behind.  Tonight it was Prust giving them life, Stepan tying it and Christensen winning after last night it was Christensen, Frolov and Boyle, so the real question becomes who is it next game?

This is not last year’s Rangers.  Last year instead of being on a three game winning streak at this very moment they would be sulking and feeling sorry for themselves having lost two in a row.  Have to love the fight in this team right now.

Rangers Final Lineup: White Scratched; Lundqvist Start; Prospal Sent Home

Yesterday coach John Tortorella left the final spot in his lineup open for discussion when he said it would be either Erik Christensen or Todd White who was to be scratched to make room for Chris Drury’s return.  This morning Torts put an end to that speculation by saying it Todd White would be the one who was sitting at watching tonight and Erik Christensen will play with Drury and Sean Avery on the team’s fourth line.  As frustrating as watching Christensen is this is the right move for the club as White has brought little to nothing this year and there is always the chance that Christensen will have his lightning in a bottle moment tonight, especially against a former team.

In other news that should surprise no one it will be Henrik Lundqvist who will go tonight against the Penguins though I am more interested to see tomorrow’s goaltending choice because the Rangers really need to get Martin Biron back in there as tomorrow would be two weeks since he was pulled against the Islanders and if you keep letting him sit you can lose him.

Finally, Vinny Prospal was sent home and away from the team, but not due to any sort of injury, just the flu and they did not want him to put in through the team like it was earlier this season.

Today’s full pregame notes and thoughts can be found here:

Drury Returns on Fourth Line; Torts Will Scratch White or Christensen

There has been a lot of speculation as to what the return of Chris Drury to the Rangers lineup will mean for the rest of the guys on the team, especially those on the fringe, but today’s statement by coach John Tortorella concerning who might be the scratch tomorrow against the Penguins caught many of us off guard.  I will not say that we did not think this guy was above being scratched, especially when Vinny Prospal comes back, but to possibly scratch him in favor of Todd White would be surprising.

According to Andrew Gross reported earlier that coach John Tortorella has said that the healthy scratch for tomorrow’s game will be either Todd White or Erik Christensen.  Many of have said that Christensen is in trouble when Prospal returns but to see White who has done little to nothing might play over him is a little stunning.  Christensen is probably the most frustrating New York Rangers player because the skill is obviously there to be a very solid NHL player but there is absolutely no consistency to his play, so as excited as he can make you with a brilliant play it is even more infuriating when he fails to do anything.  This talk from Torts could be a mind game with Christensen to put the pressure on him to keep producing and earning his minutes and he could back that up by sitting him tomorrow and bringing him back on Thursday, we will see.

As for my question yesterday of where Drury will slot into the lineup, score one for me, for correctly predicting at least for the opening shifts of the game he will be on the fourth line with Avery and either Christensen or White as Torts does not want to disrupt the other three lines.  Word of advice for Stepan, Anisimov, Fedotenko and Frolov would be to produce early in the game because we know Tortorella will not hesitate to mix it up and now he has a new ping pong ball to put into the line lottery drawing.

Lines to expect tomorrow:
Ruslan Fedotenko-Derek Stepan-Marian Gaborik
Brandon Dubinsky-Artem Anisimov-Ryan Callahan
Alex Frolov-Brian Boyle-Brandon Prust
Sean Avery-Chris Drury-Erik Christensen/Todd White

The Night In Video: Gaborik and Avery Steal the Show

Erik Christensen Goal:

Daily Recap: What's Behind Christensen/Avery Reaction; Staal Back In Form Moving Game Forward; Avery to ASG

Most of the traffic today was still focused on the Erik Christensen comments about Sean Avery’s role in the brawl during the Rangers game vs Edmonton.  In thinking more and more about the situation I was left pondering why the reaction against Christensen has been so venomous leading me to ask, Was It Because Christensen Said It Or Because He Said It About Avery?

Was It That Christensen Said It Or That It Was About Avery That The Fan Reaction Happened?

I have breached this kind of topic before in discussing the Michal Rozsival booing that was going on at MSG even when Rozsival was playing excellent hockey earlier this season and now I am left wondering it again today in regards to the Erik Christensen - Sean Avery media incident.  For me the Rozsival booing was just because he was Rozsival and the fact that it was Callahan who called the fans out on it meant it was ok because he is Callahan.  In that situation I asked if it has been anyone other than Ryan Callahan if they would have not only gotten a pass from the fans, but gotten credit for it showing leadership.  For me the answer is no, but instead of dissecting it in that scenario I want to pull it forward to what has gone on the last 36 hours.

Daily Recap: Henrik Returns, Dubinsky Shines in Win; Christensen Sticks Foot In Mouth Over Avery; McIlrath injury update; Callahan Throws Down

Most of the day was spent on the Erik Christensen comments about Sean Avery’s role in the brawl during the Rangers game vs Edmonton.  As I said in the post whether you agree with what Avery did or not you cannot as a teammate discuss that in public instead it must be done face to face behind the locker room doors.  What ended up for me in the scenario is you have a player who calls out his teammate claiming a sucker punch and in doing it how he did he ended up sucker punching Avery himself.  I am not a huge Avery guy myself, but when you are a guy like Christensen who is seen as soft and up and down in his own play he will win no fans by going after a guy who many Rangers fans already have their guard up to protect from anyone.  If it was someone like Callahan who said it or if the person Christensen was talking about was someone less liked by the fans like Rozsival then maybe the reaction might be different but for many now Christensen is enemy number 1.

Poll: How Should Tortorella Handle Erik Christensen Comments on Sean Avery

Title says it all. If you have other ideas, leave them in the comments.

Christensen Sucker Punches Avery In Press Over Brawl

The other day I wrote about the New York Rangers were finally becoming a team in sticking up for one another and stepping up where others were struggling, well Erik Christensen sort of dropped a bomb on that process yesterday after the blowout win against the Oilers.  In discussing the brawl set off by Sean Avery and what I deem to have been a sucker punch by Avery, especially if quotes attributed by the Oilers are true in that Avery told Smid to wait or to do it the next shift, but me saying he suckered him is a lot different than a teammate doing it.  That is exactly what Christensen did as in today's column Larry Brooks has the following quote:

Blueshirts center Erik Christensen told Edmonton TV it looked as if Avery "sucker-punched" Smid. "It looked to me like he suckered him; I'm not going to deny it," Christensen then told The Post. "I mean, everyone could see.''

As I just said me having an opinion and criticizing Avery from outside the locker room is much different than a guy he is supposed to line-up with each night to face the opposing team.  In that spot Christensen even if he believes exactly what he told the press he just needs to keep his mouth shut and deal with that internally.  For Christensen to do that to the media and not directly with Avery is him doing to Avery what he believes Avery did to him.  The reason for me Christensen counts as a sucker punch is because in your own locker room with your teammates your guard is naturally down believing they will have your back whether they agree with you or not and instead of backing up his teammate or saying nothing Christensen rolled the bus right over Avery.  It will interesting to see what if any fallout this has within the Rangers team chemistry.

Rangers vs Sabres Final Lines: Gaborik Linemates Announced; Boogaard Scratched

The lines for tonight's game are as follows:
Frolov-Christensen-Gaborik

Dubinsky-Anisimov-Callahan
Fedotenko-Boyle-Prust
Avery-Stepan-White

Gaborik Primary: Which Candidates Should Get First Chance To Be "Running-Mates"

Being that Gaborik is officially said to be playing tomorrow versus Buffalo at the Garden it is time to take a look at who will and maybe more importantly who should get the job of being his line-mates.  In the buildup to his comeback it has been all but assumed that Frolov would be his left wing and that the only debate to have was about the center with two consistent names in the conversation; Derek Stepan and Erik Christensen.  Since I prefer a little out of the box thinking I will try some on the topic and see what develops.  In doing so I will take some political background and mesh it with this current race to be the running-mates for Gaborik.

Rangers Upcoming Roster/Line Decisions Up Front: Depth is a Good Thing

With the preseason injuries to Captain Chris Drury and Assistant Captain Vinny Prospal the New York Rangers were able to skate on making some tough decisions when it comes to their roster for this season.  We have a good sense of which 14 forwards they will carry for the season, as the assumption is when Drury comes back for Friday the Roster move will be to send Todd White to Hartford, but they could always send Tim Kennedy instead.  I dont see any value for White, but Kennedy could get some use in Hartford if he isn't going to do anything but sit here.  What is less clear is what impact the return of Chris Drury will have on the lineup that we have seen for the first two games both in terms of who will be scratched instead of dressed and deeper what the line combinations will look like.  The minor injury to Erik Christensen could once again buy the Rangers a little extra time in making those tough decisions, but let us examine what this roster could look like with a healthy Drury and Christensen.

For my thoughts on those potential roster moves and line combinations join me after the jump.

Update: Since writing this last night we have seen Chris Drury practice with the top line, so that could potentially make all I say below irrelevant if he plays well there, but I will post it as it was anyway and re-evaluate if necessary once play happens again and all the forwards are healthy.  Also it was Tim Kennedy who was sent to Hartford as I speculated was possible even though I still firmly believe there is no purpose for Todd White here.