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It's a Thursday edition of Marek vs. Wyshynski beginning at 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT, and we're talking about the following and more:

Special Guest Star: Ken Daniels of the Red Wings broadcast team joins us.

• Daniel Alfredsson's 'probably not' problem.

• The Canucks' coaching change.

• Brad Richards gets scratched.

• Previewing tonight's games.

Question of the Day: What's the last thing you want to hear from your captain? Email puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or hit us on Twitter with the hashtag #MvsW to @wyshynski or @jeffmarek.

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Getty ImagesJohn Tortorella scratched a fourth liner for Game 4 against the Boston Bruins on Thursday night.

Granted, it’s a fourth-liner signed through 2021, whose contract was valued at $60 million when he signed with the New York Rangers as a free agent.

Granted, he was their No. 1 center to start the season.

Granted, he’s a former Conn Smythe winner who is now a healthy scratch in his team’s most important playoff game of the season.

Such is the disastrous season for Brad Richards of the New York Rangers.

From Rangers Rants on Thursday:

“I’m surprised, I guess,” said Richards, who turned 33 on May 2 and is still owed $36 million through 2020. “I’m disappointed.”

… Richards said Tortorella called him this morning at home with the news. “Nothing’s over,” Richards said. “Work harder and try my best to never let it happen again.”

It's the beginning of the end, according to Rick Carpiniello:

The next step is then obvious. The Rangers will use their one remaining compliance buyout within the new CBA to end Richards’ relationship with the team this summer. Richards, who received $12 million in 2011-12 and most of his $12 million for the lockout 2013 season, will get a $24 million going-away present this summer (spread out over twice the remaining seven years), removing his contract from the books and his salary from the decreasing salary cap.

Richards will then be an unrestricted free agent, able to strike a deal with any of the other 29 teams, but not with the Rangers. And he surely will resurface after a summer of conditioning, and sign somewhere at a much smaller salary.

Torts has handled the rapid decline in Richards’ game with kid gloves, never torching his former No. 1 center publicly.

The demotion couldn’t have been easy for the Rangers coach, who won a Cup with Richards as his playoff MVP in Tampa Bay. To scratch Richards shows what a non-factor he’s become in the semifinals, skating 8:10 in Game 3 and getting benched in the third period.

Richards came to the Rangers because the money was right and he felt they could challenge for the Cup. But he also signed because of Tortorella. He believed in Torts; and Torts believed in Richards as a veteran leader in that room who could act as his proxy.

Now, Richards is scratched in what could be Tortorella’s last game as Rangers coach.

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Jonathan Toews has no goals in the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs, through eight games. He had two last postseason, through seven games. He had one in seven games against Vancouver in 2011. In 2010, when the Chicago Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup, Toews had one goal in the final 11 games of their run to the championship. It was still good enough for the Conn Smythe.

We’re no math majors, but Toews has four goals in his last 33 playoff games.

During that span, defenseman Brent Seabrook has three goals. For context’s sake.

Reader ‘Hollis 22’ is wondering why Toews doesn’t take flack for this drought:

“If Alex Ovechkin was in that kind of drought, the hockey media would be in his face with torches and pitchforks. In contrast, Joe Thornton has 5 goals in his last 27 playoff tilts, yet he and Patrick Marleau are viewed as guys that crumble in the playoffs.

“Why this stat hasn't made its way to the forefront of the Chicago-Detroit series is mind-boggling to me.”

The line of Toews, Marian Hossa and Brandon Saad has two points in three games against the Detroit Red Wings, who lead their series 2-1. That came on a Marian Hossa power-play goal in Game 1, on which Toews earned an assist.

Otherwise, they’ve watched Henrik Zetterberg’s line do to them what they did to Zach Parise’s line in the Minnesota Wild series: Shut them down, while generating their own offense on the counterattack.

Which is why criticism of Toews’s postseason offense can be sort of tricky.

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Daniel Alfredsson of the Ottawa Senators has, for the most part, achieved Beloved Player status in the National Hockey League: a veteran whose work ethic, results and dedication to the only franchise he’s played for makes him exempt from most criticism.

So imagine, if you will, if Alex Ovechkin or Joe Thornton or Henrik Sedin or another captain who carries less respect than Alfredsson uttered the following when asked if it was feasible his team could win three in a row against the Pittsburgh Penguins after Wednesday's 7-3 Game 4 thumping:

"Probably not.”

Oh captain.

My, captain.

Getty ImagesBrian Burke was the architect of the USA Hockey team that rode the hot goaltending of Ryan Miller all the way to overtime of the 2010 gold medal match in the Vancouver Olympics.

He was the general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs then. Now, he’s out of a GM gig; according to Sportsnet 590 in Toronto, that’s the reason he won’t be back in the same capacity for Team USA in Sochi 2014.

As reported on the “Brady and Lang” show by co-host Greg Brady, Burke will not be asked back as the team’s general manager. As Brady tweeted:

“Burke was told, as suspected, USA Hockey wants a current NHL GM. [Nashville GM David] Poile a strong candidate. Burke definitely wanted the job - obviously he made a huge commitment to after his son's tragic passing. Might be a mistake by USA Hockey.”

Burke’s son Brendan died in a car accident on Feb. 5, 2010; the Winter Olympic hockey tournament in Vancouver began on Feb. 13, 2010. Burke worked through his personal tragedy, which served as an inspiration for the American players.

He also made some bold decisions at GM that helped Team USA earn silver: Most notably the addition of Chris Drury to the roster, as the veteran center had become a high-priced punchline for the New York Rangers. Drury was one of the team’s best players in the tournament, and rewrote the legacy of his latter years in the NHL.

The notion that a general manager needs to be currently employed in the NHL to take the reins of Team USA seems a bit odd.

Getty ImagesNo. 1 Star: James Neal, Pittsburgh Penguins

As part of their 7-3 win over the Ottawa Senators in Game 4, Neal scored twice, including a power play tally, and assisted on an another as the Penguins took a 3-1 series lead. The goal were Neal's first since Game 4 against the New York Islanders.

No. 2 Star: Jarome Iginla, Pittsburgh Penguins

Iginla netted a pair, including one of Pittsburgh's two power play goals. He's now put up points in eight of the Penguins' 10 playoff games.

No. 3 Star: Kris Letang, Pittsburgh Penguins

Letang had a couple of bad turnovers, but did finish with four assists. He now leads all defenseman in scoring with 13 points.

There was a lot for Ottawa Senators head coach Paul MacLean to be frustrated with after their Game 4 loss. The first period ended with the Senators ahead 2-1, but in the third the Pittsburgh Penguins offense erupted for four goals en route to a 7-3 win.

[Related: Senators coach Paul MacLean takes light approach with young team]

After the game, there would be no questions for MacLean from the media. He apparently didn't feel the need to add to the story that the gamesheet told:

If only he had dropped the mic before he walked off...

As Matt Kassian told our own Nick Cotsonika, MacLean knows just how to get through to his players, whether it's slipping in a joke during meetings to lighten the mood or, well, holding 13 second press conferences with the stern look of a drill sergeant.

It's worked up to this point. Will it for Game 5?

Follow Sean Leahy on Twitter at @Sean_Leahy

Getty ImagesGame 4 began looking like it was going to be another one of those games for the Pittsburgh Penguins. You know those games by now, right? Sloppy play. Turnovers. Questions about their goaltending.

It started off just 2:29 into the game when Milan Michalek's shorthanded goal had Scotiabank Place buzzing. Later, after Kyle Turris pounced on a puck during a scramble in front of Tomas Vokoun's crease to give Ottawa a 2-1 lead -- and the Senators killed both power plays they handed the Penguins -- things were looking promising after one period. Craig Anderson was playing like he did in Game 3, making 15 saves in the first period to deny a flying Pittsburgh offense.

"We had to make sure we played the right way," said Kris Letang to NBC Sports Network's Brian Engblom about the Penguins' adjustments between periods. "We were a little on our heels ... We had to regroup."

[Related: Senators' Daniel Alfredsson all but throws in the towel]

Regroup they did, and in a matter of 40 seconds the game flipped on its head.