Today after practice, John Tortorella caught up with the media and talked about the state of the team.
One concern that he was questioned about was Ryan Callahan. The Rangers' captain left Wednesday's practice early for an undisclosed reason. However, Tortorella stated that Callahan was simply getting extra rest, and that he is fine and expected to play on Saturday against the Islanders.
The other piece of news that came up during practice today was Tortorella's tweaking of the forward combinations. Brandon Dubinsky, who played with Brad Richards and Marian Gaborik during the Rangers' two regular season games in Europe, was put back on a line with Artem Anisimov and Ryan Callahan. That line was together for most of the 2010-11 season, and worked well as a scoring unit as well as a shutdown line defensively.
Taking Dubinsky's place on the top line today in practice was Derek Stepan. Stepan doesn't have much experience on the wing, but his playmaking abilities compliment Richards and Gaborik well.
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