Rangers Team Report

INSIDE SHOTS

Coach John Tortorella admits something needs to change. And he wasn’t just talking about his ongoing complaint about the NHL rulesmakers’ approach to hits to the head.

The Rangers are sinking fast in the Atlantic Division. They have lost three straight games—by a combined score of 18-6—and 13 of 19 games overall (6-12-1) since a 7-1-0 start.

“The locker room sooner or later has to take some ownership as far as how we’re gonna go about this,” Tortorella said. “It’s about accountability … individual players taking responsibility for their play.”

Outside of leading scorer Marian Gaborik(notes), who is first in the NHL with 21 goals after netting two more in Monday’s 5-2 home loss to Pittsburgh, and linemate Vinny Prospal, few Rangers have played well, and that includes star goalie Henrik Lundqvist(notes).

“We can’t feel sorry for ourselves. We put ourselves in this position,” Lundqvist said. “We just have to come back.”

Penguins 5, Rangers 2:   It’s one thing to be burned for a hat trick by Sidney Crosby(notes), who netted three goals in an 8-3 rout of the Rangers on Saturday in Pittsburgh. But Mike Rupp? Really?

Crosby added two more goals, but tough guy Rupp, who’s never scored more than six goals in any of his seven NHL seasons, had a hat trick, including two of Pittsburgh’s three scores in the third period after the game was tied 2-2 through 40 minutes.

The Rangers had won their previous eight regular-season games against Pittsburgh at Madison Square Garden, but they were swept in a home-and-home series by a 13-5 total.

“We did some good things,” coach John Tortorella said. “That is the way it’s going right now. We make a mistake, it is going in our net. It is discouraging.”

NOTES, QUOTES

• C Artem Anisimov(notes) played Monday against the Penguins one game after absorbing a shoulder check to the head by Pittsburgh’s Matt Cooke(notes), who was suspended two games by the NHL for the hit. Rangers coach John Tortorella believes the instigator rule needs to be changed to allow players to police themselves on the ice.

“I don’t know how that stuff with supplementary discipline happens,” Tortorella said. “The best way I can put it, I just don’t think there’s enough honesty in the game. I think when players police themselves, there’s more honesty brought into the game and I’ll leave it at that. I think it’s a players’ game. (It’s) not (about) supplementary discipline.”

• LW Enver Lisin(notes) sat on the bench for the entire game Saturday in Pittsburgh without playing a shift, and he was a healthy scratch Monday against the Penguins. Lisin, who has no points in his last 12 appearances, was replaced in the lineup by C Brian Boyle(notes).

Quote To Note:   “We just have to regroup now. We have four days without games, and we really need to try to get away a little bit.”—Leading scorer Marian Gaborik after the Rangers’ 5-2 loss Monday to Pittsburgh, their third straight defeat.

ROSTER REPORT

Goaltenders:   Henrik Lundqvist, Steve Valiquette.

Defensemen:   Marc Staal(notes), Michal Rozsival(notes), Dan Girardi, Michael Del Zotto(notes), Matt Gilroy(notes), Bobby Sanguinetti(notes).

First Line:   Sean Avery(notes), Vinny Prospal, Marian Gaborik.

Second Line:   P.A. Parenteau(notes), Artem Anisimov, Christopher Higgins(notes).

Third Line:   Donald Brashear(notes), Chris Drury(notes), Ryan Callahan(notes).

Fourth Line:   Ales Kotalik(notes), Bryan Boyle, Aaron Voros(notes).

Player Notes:  

• RW Marian Gaborik scored both goals in a 5-2 loss Monday to Pittsburgh, giving him an NHL-leading 21 in just 25 games.

• G Henrik Lundqvist, making his first appearance since he was pulled in the second period Friday in Tampa Bay, allowed four goals or more for the third time in four appearances.

• LW Ales Kotalik, the Rangers’ third-leading scorer despite having one point in his last seven games, was dropped to the fourth line and played only 3:14.

Medical Watch:  

• C Brandon Dubinksy sustained a broken right hand blocking a shot Nov. 7 against Calgary and is expected to be out until mid-December.

• D Wade Redden(notes) suffered an injury to his right arm/shoulder Nov. 25 against Florida and is expected back in early December.