Avery Scratched

Sean Avery will be a healthy scratch tonight. Don’t know who is replacing him in the lineup Enver Lisin is taking Avery’s place. He is not “engaged” enough. Have no idea what that means.

So much for seeing him on the fourth line.

Avery to Fourth Line

Via the beat writers’ twitters (literally all of them), Sean Avery was moved to the fourth line during practice yesterday, skating with Jody Shelley, Brian Boyle, Enver Lisin, and Aaron Voros. Brandon Prust was moved up to a line with Erik Christensen and Chris Drury. This makes line change #13,427 on the year, thus our slogan “More consistent than John Tortorella’s lines”. These will presumably be the lines for tonight’s game against Atlanta.

When Avery was playing under Tom Renney, he was getting solid minutes, and was able to play his game. His game involves getting into a rhythm offensively while disrupting the opposing stars. Under Tortorella, his time has slowly diminished, thus eliminating the “Avery Factor”. Under the new regime, Avery is just another $2 million fourth liner.

Really don’t know what to make of that one.

Auld to Start

Recently acquired backup goalie Alex Auld will start tonight against the Caps, giving Henrik Lundqvist, who made a career high 50 saves Thursday against Pittsburgh, a day off. Auld is 9-6-3 with a 3.00 GAA and .894 SV% this season.

Voros/Brashear Out, Line Changes

As per Steve Zipay, scratched again will be Donald Brashear, with Aaron Voros joining him in the Prucha Box. Coach John Tortorella is playing with the lines tonight against Washington, putting the newly acquired Olli Jokinen between Ryan Callahan and Brandon Dubinsky, who is shifting to wing. Erik Christensen will center Vinny Prospal and Marian Gaborirk.

It’s good to see that Torts is, at least attempting to, spread the scoring out. A front loaded line of Prospal-Jokinen-Gaborik will always draw the top defensive pairing. By spreading it out, you make other coaches rethink that strategy. Yes, Gaborik will still draw top defensive pairings, but maybe the combination of Dubi-Jokinen-Cally can spark the Rangers offense.

Lisin/Brashear Scratched

Oh wait, there’s a game tonight. Olli Jokinen and Brandon Prust will be making their Ranger debuts tonight, wearing numbers 12 and 8, respectively. To make room for them in the lineup, Donald Brashear will be scratched again, as will Enver Lisin. Lisin didn’t play poorly in his “return to the lineup” over the past few games. But, dare I say that Aaron Voros has earned his playing time? I do dare. He has, and deserves to be in the lineup.

Hank Out Tonight

As per Andrew Gross’s twitter, Chad Johnson will get the start again tonight, as Henrik Lundqvist will be out with a stomach flu for the second game in a row.

Update 7:00pm: Ales Kotalik and Donald Brashear are scratched again. Strong trade rumors swirling, as there was a 35 minute delay for Tortorella’s pregame press conference.

Kotalik Back on Point

Jim Cerny is reporting that Ales Kotalik, a healthy scratch for six in a row, is back on the point on the first powerplay unit. He will likely be back in the lineup tomorrow.

If I had to guess who he replaces, I’ll go with Brashear. Voros and Lisin have earned the right to stay in the lineup for at least another game.

Kotalik/Christensen Out, Brashear In

As per Steve Zipay’s twitter, the scratches for tonight’s game against Pittsburgh are Erik Christensen and Ales Kotalik. Donald Brashear will be playing tonight, presumably on the fourth line with Brian Boyle and Aaron Voros.

Kotalik, making $3 million this year and the next two years, last played on January 14. This will be the sixth game in a row that he is a healthy scratch.

Kotalik, Brashear Scratched Again

Andrew Gross is reporting that Ales Kotalik and Donald Brashear will be scratched again tonight against Tampa Bay. This will be the third straight game that the Rangers have $4.4 million in cap hits sitting in the Prucha box. There has to be a better way to spend that money.

Kotalik, Brashear Scratched

As per Andrew Gross, Ales Kotalik will be scratched tonight for the third time this season. Kotalik has been even less than I thought he would be, which is tough because I didn’t expect much. Donald Brashear will be a scratch tonight also, and Chad Johnson will make his second start of his career.

Enver Lisin and Aaron Voros, who have been the most common Prucha victims, are getting some playing time at the expense of Brashear and Kotalik. What a fantastic way to spend $4.4 million.