Wounded Rangers look to regroup against Blackhawks

Hockey Betting Lines

02/18/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - One day after suffering a devastating home loss, the New York Rangers will try to rebound when the Chicago Blackhawks enter Madison Square Garden for a Sunday matinee.

New York's fading playoff hopes took a serious hit when the club fell victim to the NHL's basement-dwellers, the Philadelphia Flyers, on Saturday. Simon Gagne and Geoff Sanderson each had a goal and an assist to lead the Flyers to a 5-3 victory.

The Rangers not only lost the game, but will be without Brendan Shanahan for an indefinite period after the All-Star forward suffered a concussion during a frightening collision with Philadelphia's Mike Knuble in the third period.

Shanahan, who leads the Rangers with 28 goals, was temporarily knocked unconscious when his head struck the ice and had to be taken off in a stretcher. The 38-year-old was taken to St. Vincent's Hospital and underwent x-rays and a CT scan, which turned up negative, and was kept overnight for observation.

New York also endured injuries to two other key players on Saturday. Goaltender Henrik Lundqvist did not play the third period after being hit in the left shoulder with the puck earlier in the contest, while top defenseman Marek Malik aggravated a shoulder injury that forced him to miss three previous games this month.

Lundqvist is expected to be available for today's matchup, but Malik will likely sit out the game.

Marcel Hossa, Petr Prucha and Matt Cullen accounted for the New York goals while Daniel Girardi had two assists for the Rangers, who entered the day on a three-game win streak.

Michael Nylander assisted on Prucha's tally and has now registered a helper in seven consecutive games.

The Rangers now trail Toronto, which defeated Edmonton Saturday night, by five points for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Chicago is well out of the Western Conference playoff race at the moment and has lost its last two games, both in shootouts. After coming up short against the surging Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday, the Blackhawks were handed a 2-1 loss to Vancouver Friday at the United Center.

Brendan Morrison recorded the clinching goal during the shootout phase and Roberto Luongo made 34 saves to lead the Canucks.

Chicago's Patrick Lalime stopped 28-of-29 chances, but the oft-injured netminder was beaten on both shootout tries. Patrick Sharp had the only goal for the Blackhawks, who have still earned a point in their last three outings.

This will be Chicago's first appearance in Madison Square Garden since coming through with a 4-3 victory there on December 11, 2003. The Blackhawks are 6-1-1 (1 tie) in their last eight trips to Manhattan and unbeaten (3 wins, 1 tie) in their last four overall encounters with the Blueshirts.

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