Rangers have Clowe in lineup; Staal out

NEW YORK -- Ryane Clowe returned to the New York Rangers lineup for Game 4 Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden after missing the previous four games with an undisclosed injury.

Defenseman Marc Staal is not in the lineup after playing in Game 3 Monday, his first game since March 5.

The Rangers trail the Washington Capitals in the best-of-7 series, 2-1.

Clowe is replacing Darroll Powe, who was injured midway through the first period of Game 3 when he took the brunt of a hit on Joel Ward along the boards. Clowe hadn't played since April 25, the second-to-last game of the regular season. He returned to practice last Friday and has been skating every day since.

The Rangers acquired Clowe from the San Jose Sharks on April 2. He has 45 points in 68 career games in the Stanley Cup Playoffs with the Sharks.

Staal returned to the lineup Monday after missing 29 games with a right eye injury. He played more than 17 minutes and practiced Tuesday and Wednesday morning but was an unexpected scratch.

Steve Eminger replaced Staal in the lineup. He played in Games 1 and 2 in Washington.

With Clowe back and Staal out, here is a look at the Rangers' lineup for Game 4 based on warm-ups:

Rick Nash - Derek Stepan - Ryan Callahan

Carl Hagelin - Brad Richards - Taylor Pyatt

Mats Zuccarello - Derick Brassard - Brian Boyle

Ryane Clowe - Derek Dorsett - Arron Asham

Ryan McDonagh - Dan Girardi

John Moore - Anton Stralman

Michael Del Zotto - Steve Eminger

Henrik Lundqvist

Martin Biron

Follow Dan Rosen on Twitter at: @drosennhl