NEW YORK -- The Nashville Predators will be without two of their most important players when they face the New York Rangers tonight (7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSP, TSN2).
 
The Predators will give Pekka Rinne a rest, instead starting backup goaltender Anders Lindback. They also will be without defenseman Ryan Suter, who aggravated an upper-body injury during the Predators' 3-1 win against the Islanders on Monday afternoon.
 
Rinne is coming off a brilliant 36-save performance on Monday, but coach Barry Trotz is trying to see the big picture with his Vezina-worthy goaltender.
 
"We're going to have to play Lindy a little bit here," Trotz said of Lindback. "We really looked at the schedule, and we just played a back to back. This will probably be more of the norm in the second half of the season."
 
Including tonight's game at Madison Square Garden, the Predators have five back-to-backs over the rest of the season. Rinne has started 41 of Nashville's 45 games this season.
 
Suter played just 7:04 on Monday and following the game was deemed doubtful for today's contest. He did not take part in the team's optional practice this morning.
 
The 26-year-old Suter is second in the NHL in average ice time per game at 26:30, which is 51 seconds fewer than what League-leader Dan Girardi of the Rangers averages. Trotz said it will have to be a group effort in replacing Suter against the Rangers.
 
"Everybody has to make sure they're diligent defensively as a five-man group," Trotz said. "You have to pay attention to the details of the game. I'll have to spread around some of those minutes."
 
Trotz said he can't see how he can get more minutes for Shea Weber, who already plays 26:13 per game, but he will disperse Suter's minutes to defensemen Jack Hillen and Kevin Klein.
 
One piece of good news for the Predators is the return of forward Craig Smith, who was feeling under the weather Monday and did not play. The rookie has 9 goals and 26 points in 43 games this season.
 
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NEW YORK -- Wojtek Wolski will play his first game since Nov. 3 as the Rangers host the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night.

Wolski underwent sports-hernia surgery in early November and has been waiting for about two weeks to crack the lineup, but has been a healthy scratch as the red-hot Rangers have had little reason to shuffle their lineup.

But an injury to Brandon Dubinsky's right shoulder has given Wolski a chance. Dubinsky suffered the injury during Tuesday's 2-1 shootout win against the Coyotes. Coach John Tortorella said the move to scratch Dubinsky is an effort to keep the shoulder from being a long-term problem.

Wolski, who has 2 assists in 6 games this season, will take Dubinsky's spot on the Rangers' second line with Brad Richards and Ryan Callahan, leaving their other three lines intact.

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NEW YORK -- Erik Karlsson is checking back into the Senators lineup Thursday night, but Brandon Dubinsky may sit out for the Rangers with an ailing shoulder.

Matt Carkner will come out of the lineup for the Senators, while Wojtek Wolski would replace Dubinsky.

Craig Anderson will start in goal for the Senators; Henrik Lundqvist will likely be in net for the Rangers.

Here's what both teams will likely use as their lineups in a battle of the two of the East's better teams:

SENATORS
Milan Michalek - Jason Spezza - Colin Greening
Daniel Alfredsson - Kyle Turris - Erik Condra
Nick Foligno - Zack Smith - Chris Neil
Kaspars Daugavins - Zenon Konopka - Bobby Butler

Filip Kuba - Erik Karlsson
Sergei Gonchar - Jared Cowen
Chris Phillips - Brian Lee

Craig Anderson
Alex Auld

RANGERS
Artem Anisimov - Derek Stepan - Marian Gaborik
Brandon Dubinsky (Carl Hagelin) - Brad Richards - Ryan Callahan
Carl Hagelin (Wojtek Wolski) - Brian Boyle - Ruslan Fedotenko
Brandon Prust - John Mitchell - Mike Rupp

Ryan McDonagh - Dan Girardi
Michael Del Zotto - Anton Stralman
Marc Staal - Stu Bickel

Henrik Lundqvist
Martin Biron

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New York Rangers forward Brandon Dubinsky will be a game-time decision for tonight's meeting with the Ottawa Senators.
 
Dubinsky took a hard hit during Tuesday's game against the Phoenix Coyotes and did not participate in Thursday morning's practice. He had X-rays on his right shoulder, but they came back negative.
 
"It's going to be sore, obviously," Dubinsky told reporters at the team's practice facility in Greenburgh, N.Y. "It's just a matter of how well I can deal with that and take it from there."
 
If Dubinsky can't go, Wojtek Wolski will play his first game since having sports-hernia surgery in early November. He's been a healthy scratch the past couple of weeks as coach John Tortorella hasn't wanted to mess with the lineup as the Rangers have won five straight and 10 of 11.
 
Wolski has played just six games this season and has 2 assists.
 
His first game back could be a memorable one. On Oct. 29, Wolski delivered a shot to the head of Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson that caused a concussion. Alfredsson missed five games after the hit.
 
The two teams met again Nov. 9, but both Alfredsson and Wolski were out of the lineup. Alfredsson said Thursday after practice that he wasn't aware of the fact that Wolski could return, but the Senators likely haven't forgotten about that hit.
 
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NEW YORK -- Erik Karlsson confirmed Thursday what everyone believed would be the case -- he's back in the lineup for the Ottawa Senators after missing the team's previous game with an upper-body injury.

"I feel a lot better today," Karlsson said. "It's definitely going as plan and I expect to be ready tonight."

Karlsson suffered his injury during pre-game warmups in the Sens' previous game against the Penguins on Tuesday. He was replaced by Matt Carkner, who will be a healthy scratch against the Rangers on Thursday night at Madison Square Garden.

The NHL's leading scorer among defensemen said he doesn't expect his injury to be a nagging one, but he couldn't promise it wouldn't crop up again.

Coach Paul MacLean is just happy to get Karlsson back against the NHL's top team.

"Obviously he's a very important player for us," MacLean said. "He generates a lot of offense for us. He's arguably our best player. Anytime you get one of them back, it's good for your team."

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NEW YORK -- The Ottawa Senators could look at Thursday night's game against the New York Rangers, who lead the NHL in points with 58 points, as a chance to see how they match up with the best team in the League.

Instead, the streaking Senators are looking at the bigger picture.

The Senators are coming off a 5-1 win in Pittsburgh on Tuesday. It marked the start of a stretch of nine of 10 away from Scotiabank Place. That rough road swing includes stops in Toronto, San Jose and Boston.

"This trip is a measuring stick for us," Ottawa's Jason Spezza said. "This is a real tough trip, and we're just trying to be real short-sighted with how we approach it, because it can be a real daunting task if you look at the big picture. It's definitely a big game for us, but we're kind of using the whole trip as the test."

Ottawa is 8-1-2 in its last 11 games, which happen to coincide with the arrival of Kyle Turris in a trade with the Phoenix Coyotes. He has 1 goal and 7 assists in that stretch.

The plan against the Rangers is a familiar one -- disrupt the vision of goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, who is a strong candidate for the Vezina Trophy through the first half of the season.

"We know they're going to come out hard," Spezza said. "Torts has them playing a real fast-paced game. We try to play a similar style. Just be patient. We'll get chances and Hank will make saves, but you have to stick with it and try to get a lot of traffic around him -- be relentless around the net. Really bear down on your good opportunities. He's such a good goaltender that he's not going to give you too many free ones."

Senators coach Paul MacLean admits the Rangers will be a challenge for his team, which is one of the few to win in Madison Square Garden as a visitor this season -- the Rangers are 12-3-2 on home ice and suffered a 5-4 shootout loss to Ottawa in their home opener in late October.

"They're the best team in the League," MacLean said. "Their goalie's played real well. Their team play has been good. It's going to be a real test for us. Like every night, it's a test of our consistency to see if we can come back and do it again. "

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NEW YORK -- Erik Karlsson, the NHL's leading scorer among defensemen, was not on the ice Wednesday for Ottawa Senators practice at Chelsea Piers.

Karlsson tweaked an upper-body injury before Tuesday's game against the Pittsburgh Penguins and did not play after taking part in the pre-game warmups.

The Senators' next game is Thursday against the Rangers at Madison Square Garden.

Karlsson led all vote getters for this year's Tim Hortons NHL All-Star Game, which will take place in Ottawa.

NEW YORK -- The Phoenix Coyotes are looking for a course correction as they pay a visit to Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night to face the New York Rangers.

The Coyotes have lost six of eight and 10 of 15 to slip to 11th place in the Western Conference, three points back of the eighth and final playoff spot.

The Coyotes held an optional practice Tuesday morning with only scratches and injured players taking part, but here is what the lines looked like during their 5-1 victory against the Islanders on Saturday:

Ray Whitney - Kyle Chipchura - Radim Vrbata
Mikkel Boedker - Daymond Langkow - Shane Doan
Lauri Korpikoski - Marc-Antoine Pouliot - Taylor Pyatt
Raffi Torres - Patrick O'Sullivan - Cal O'Reilly

Keith Yandle - Derek Morris
Oliver Ekman-Larsson - Michal Rozsival
David Schlemko - Rostislav Klesla

Mike Smith
Jason LaBarbera

Meanwhile, the Rangers held an optional practice of their own in Greenburgh on Thursday morning. Reports indicate they won't be making any lineup changes, which means it will be Henrik Lundqvist in net with Wojtek Wolski and Erik Christensen once again healthy scratches.

Artem Anisimov - Derek Stepan - Marian Gaborik
Brandon Dubinsky - Brad Richards - Ryan Callahan
Carl Hagelin - Brian Boyle - Ruslan Fedotenko
Mike Rupp - John Mitchell - Brandon Prust

Ryan McDonagh - Dan Girardi
Michael Del Zotto - Anton Stralman
Marc Staal - Stu Bickel

Henrik Lundqvist
Martin Biron

NEW YORK -- For the first time under coach Dave Tippett, the Phoenix Coyotes are finding themselves in a prolonged slump.

The Coyotes enter Madison Square Garden on Tuesday with losses in 10 of their last 15 games to face the League-leading Rangers, who have won four straight and nine of 10. It's the start of three-game road trip through New York, Detroit and Columbus that marks the final portion of a grueling stretch for the Coyotes that started in late November.

"We haven't been as good as we've wanted to be for the last three weeks," said Coyotes captain Shane Doan, who netted his first career hat trick in 1,161 career games in a 5-1 win against the Islanders on Saturday. "We haven't had a long, bad losing streak, but we've lost three here, two more there, and it adds up. As a team, we hadn't lost three straight previous to that in the two years that Tipp's been our coach, so we have to get it going back in the right direction."

Performing well in these three road games before a stretch of seven of eight games at home is important for the Coyotes.

"It's huge for us," Doan said. "There's only been one game since Nov. 25 where we haven't had a flight right after the game. It's been a tough stretch. We're getting through it and this is the last part of it. Once we get through this part, I hope we'll be going in the right direction."

A win against the Rangers would be a confidence-boosting start for the struggling Coyotes, but it won't be easy. The Rangers are 12-3-2 at home this season and have just one loss at home in their last six games at MSG since Dec. 11.

Some teams get excited by the prospect of measuring up against one of the League's better teams, but Doan isn't looking at Tuesday's matchup exactly like that.

"I think whenever you play one of the better teams, yeah, you want to do well," Doan said. "But I think the League is so tight. Next week, there could be six other teams at the top because there's no one team that's running away with anything yet. Obviously they're playing really well, when you look at what they've done in their last 10 games to put themselves in that position."

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NEW YORK -- Stephen Weiss was asked Thursday if he's starting to believe the Florida Panthers are for real.

They've led the Southeast Division since Nov. 19 and will get a true test against the East-leading Rangers on Thursday night at Madison Square Garden.

"We played the last month or two with seven forwards out of our lineup and we're still leading our division, so we must be doing something right as a team," Weiss said following the team's practice at Chelsea Piers. "We're getting healthy now, and we want to make an even bigger push in the second half and start that tonight."

The Panthers, who haven't played since Dec. 31, will get two key players back against the Rangers -- Marcel Goc and Mikael Samuelsson. Goc has been out since Nov. 17 with a head injury while Samuelsson has played just six games since the was acquired from the Canucks in October due to lingering groin issues and a back injury suffered in late December.

"There's going to be an adjustment period here for them," Panthers coach Kevin Dineed said. "You'd like to ease guys back into the lineup, but that's not how we do things. If they're going to play, they're going to get right back into the thick of it. We're going to need a lot of quality hockey out of them to beat the top team in the conference. Marcel Goc is a really important piece to our puzzle, and it'll be important to have them back in our lineup."

These teams met in Florida with the Rangers winning 4-1. As time expired, Rangers defenseman Michael Del Zotto and Panthers forward Tomas Kopecky exchanged blows with the Rangers' Michael Rupp throwing punches at Kopecky.

The Panthers made it sound unlikely there will be a repeat of that melee.

"For us, to get wrapped up with that emotion, it doesn't benefit us," Dineen said. "It's non-productive."

"It's always physical against that club, so that'll be nothing new," Weiss said. "I think that's in the past. There's too much at stake right now with points to let that stuff get in the way."

A big reason for their Dec. 30 loss was goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, who stopped 27 of 28 shots. That won't be a problem Thursday, as all signs indicate that backup Martin Biron will oppose the Panthers' Scott Clemmensen in the fourth and final meeting between the teams this season.

"We want to have a better game," Weiss said. "I don't think the last game we played them that the score told the tale of the game. We had a (bad) start. Two goals off deflections. They got a 3-0 lead and the rest of the game we played pretty well. We just couldn't beat Lundqvist. We want to have a better effort for sure, especially against the top teams."

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