Rangers @ Stars

American Airlines Center, Friday night 8:30

Rangers record: 23-15-3

Stars record: 24-13-4

The Rangers kick-off the first of a grueling two-game road trip against the Dallas Stars tomorrow night.  Then, the banged up Blueshirts will play again less than 24 hours later in St. Louis.  The story of tomorrow night’s game is Sean Avery’s return to Dallas, but this will be a good test for the Rangers against one of the league’s better teams.

After finishing 12^th in the Western Conference last year the Stars are off to a tremendous start in 2010-11 and currently sit atop the Pacific Division.  The Stars waved goodbye to Marty Turco and Mike Modano after last season and many expected that they’d go through a bit of a rebuilding stage, but thanks to an MVP caliber season from potential future Ranger Brad Richards and strong production from other players including youngsters Loui Eriksson, Jamie Benn, and James Neal, the Stars have returned to their dominant form of the early part of the decade.  But the biggest reason for Dallas’ success has been the improved goaltending they’ve received from two surprising sources, Kari Lehtonen and Andrew Raycroft.  Lehtonen had been one of the most injury prone players in the league but so far with the Stars he’s been healthy and productive.  Raycroft is usually among the most inconsistent players in the NHL, but thus far he’s been even better than Lehtonen.  The good news for the Rangers is that Dallas has been beset by injuries this week.  Both Matt Niskanen and Karlis Skrastins will miss the game and Richards, Neal, and Brenden Morrow are all fighting through injuries. 

The Blueshirts have been fighting through a bit of a dip lately, in part due to injuries, but also due to the normal ups and downs of an 82 game season.  Winning the next two games on the road will be no simple task, but the Rangers have proven they can play with anyone in the league.  It will be interesting to see who Coach John Tortorella puts the struggling Marian Gaborik with and how he handles Avery for what could be an interesting return.  And of course, one would think that Mats Zuccarello might get some bonus ice time in this game.  The Rangers are zero for their last 11 on the power play, and just two for their last 20, but 15 for their last 16 on the penalty kill.

Neither Brandon Prust nor Michal Rozsival skated today and Rozsival’s status for tomorrow night is in doubt.  If he misses the game, Ryan McDonagh will likely make his NHL debut.