Breaking News: Rangers Acquire Forwards Darroll Powe and Nick Palmieri For Mike Rupp

The Rangers have announced that they have traded center Mike Rupp to the Minnesota Wild in exchange for center Darroll Powe and right wing Nick Palmieri. Powe is expected to be in the lineup for the Rangers tomorrow night when they take on the Devils in Newark, while Palmieri will be sent down to the Connecticut Whale (AHL).

Powe, 27, has skated in eight games with the Wild this season and has been held pointless with five shots on goal and nine penalty minutes. Powe is a gritty type of forward who has experience killing penalties and can help on faceoffs. Last year he skated in 82 games for the Wild and recorded six goals and seven assists for 13 points to go along with 57 penalty minutes.

Palmieri, 23, is a former third round draft pick of the Devils who has always put up good numbers in the AHL, but has never been able to translate it to the NHL. He's a good pick up for some forward depth, which the Rangers needed with injuries to Ryan Callahan and Chris Kreider early on this season, but that's about it. He's spent this entire season so far with the Wild's AHL affiliate the Houston Aeros and previously skated in nine games with the Wild last season while being held without a point.

On the surface, I like this trade for the Rangers. Darroll Powe is a Brandon Prust-type of player who can add some character and toughness to the fourth line while bringing some penalty killing skills along, too. Mike Rupp has done next to nothing offensively since he signed with the Rangers two offseasons ago, but there's no doubt he brings an element of toughness and size that the Rangers will now have to find a replacement for. Rupp has posted four goals, one assist and 145 penalty minutes in a combined 88 games in the regular season and postseason with the Rangers. I think at some point the Rangers will need to bring in another grinder who can add some size to the lineup and skate against teams like Philly and Boston.

More to come later on the trade.

Rangers Lose Game 5 To Ottawa, Face Do Or Die Game 6 Monday

It all comes down to this. The Rangers dropped a pivotal Game 5 at Madison Square Garden last night to the Ottawa Senators by a score of 2-0 and now trail the series 3-2. The Rangers will need to string together a two-game winning streak starting tomorrow night in Ottawa to avoid an early and disappointing first-round exit for the second consecutive season.

Fedotenko Back On Fourth Line At Practice, Bickel Back On Defense

Good news today from the Rangers on the injury front, as Ruslan Fedotenko returned to practice for the first time since suffering a blind-side hit from Dominic Moore last week against the Lightning. Fedotenko and Wojtek Wolski both practiced on the fourth line today with John Mitchell and Mike Rupp, while Stu Bickel returned to his natural position as a defenseman and practiced on a unit with Jeff Woywitka.

Judging from the lines in practice, I would assume that if Ruslan Fedotenko is healthy and feels fine tomorrow, he'll be in the lineup against Pittsburgh. That would make Wolski, Bickel and Woywitka the healthy scratches. If he wakes up tomorrow and his head doesn't feel right, I think Torts will stick with Bickel on the fourth line. Either way, I'd be surprised if we see Wolski in the lineup tomorrow.

The rest of the lines were the same:

Anisimov-Stepan-Gaborik
Hagelin-Richards-Callahan
Dubinsky-Boyle-Prust
Rupp-Mitchell-Fedotenko/Wolski

McDonagh-Girardi
Del Zotto-Stralman
Staal-Eminger

It's pretty clear that the Rangers really like what they've seen from Stu Bickel so far, which is why he's still with the club. Bickel would have to clear waivers in order to be returned to the Connecticut Whale, and I don't think the Rangers want to risk losing him. He's shown me a lot and has turned into a pretty nice swingman for the Rangers who can play both on the wing and defense. He's also quickly become a fan favorite of Rangers fans as evidenced by the "Stuuuuu" chants at the Garden. He adds a lot of toughness (obviously) to the lineup and is the type of player you can get away with hiding on the fourth line or as a sixth defenseman giving him limited minutes.

More tomorrow, when the Rangers will face-off against the Penguins in Pittsburgh at 7 p.m.

New Lines At Practice As Richards Tries To Find His Game

The Rangers unveiled new lines at practice today, although there's no guarantee these will be the lines that the Rangers use tomorrow night versus Tampa Bay (and hopefully they aren't). John Tortorella has used lines at practice before and then scrapped them come game time, so what the lines will look like tomorrow will remain to be seen.

Here are the lines from practice anyway:

Artem Anisimov-Derek Stepan-Marian Gaborik
Carl Hagelin-John Mitchell-Ryan Callahan
Brandon Dubinsky-Brian Boyle-Brandon Prust
Ruslan Fedotenko-Brad Richards-Mike Rupp

Rangers Fall To Devils 1-0 After Questionable Call In Final Seconds

You'll definitely be hearing about this one for a while. The Rangers lost to the Devils by a final score of 1-0 tonight, although it sure didn't look like it originally. With the seconds ticking down in the third period and the Rangers trailing with an extra skater on, Ryan Callahan fired a shot on goal that Martin Brodeur kicked out. Artem Anisimov found the rebound and put the puck in the back of the net, but the goal was waved off after the officials called a goaltender interference call on Marian Gaborik, who made contact with Brodeur after he was clearly pushed into him by Devils defenseman Anton Volchenkov. Gaborik did everything he possibly could to hold up and avoid making contact, but it was to no avail. The Rangers were called for an absolutely bogus call and lost the game 1-0.

Click below to read more on what John Tortorella, Marian Gaborik and Henrik Lundqvist had to say about the disallowed goal.

Rangers Defeat Jets 3-0, Head Into All-Star Break First In Eastern Conference

The Rangers scored a goal in each period en-route to a 3-0 win against the Winnipeg Jets tonight, and ensured that they will head into the All-Star Break in first place of the Eastern Conference.

Henrik Lundqvist picked up his 22nd win and fifth shutout of the season and now trails only Jonathan Quick of the Kings for the league lead, who has six. Tonight, Lundqvist also tied Ed Kerr for second in New York Rangers history with 40 career shutouts. He now trails only Eddie Giacomin for the most in franchise history (49). Lundqvist wasn't tested much in the first two periods when the Jets had just 12 combined shots on goal, but he made several huge saves when he was called upon. If not for Lundqvist's efforts in goal, the outcome of this game definitely could've been different.

Rangers vs. Coyotes Tonight at 8 p.m.

The Rangers are back in action tonight against the Phoenix Coyotes as their road trip continues, and Mike Rupp is expected to be back in the lineup tonight for the first time since he was sidelined with a torn meniscus in his left knee on Oct. 24. The Rangers haven't officially confirmed that Rupp will dress tonight, but it's fully expected that he will be in the lineup following yesterday's news that the Rangers reassigned defenseman Tim Erixon to the Connecticut Whale, presumably to clear cap space for Rupp's impending activation of injured reserve.

John Tortorella didn't say whether or not there would be any other lineup changes for tonight's game. You would think the logical choice is to put Sean Avery back in the lineup considering how flat the team has looked the last two games and to hopefully provide a spark of energy, but we all know that Torts doesn't always make the most logical choices when they're concerning No. 16. Chances are that Avery will be a healthy scratch once again, and either John Mitchell or Erik Christensen will be joining him in the press box to make room for Rupp's return.

If I had to guess on the lines tonight, I would assume they'll be:

Anisimov-Stepan-Gaborik
Dubinsky-Richards-Callahan
Fedotenko-Boyle-Prust
Rupp-Mitchell-Hagelin

Henrik Lundqvist is also expected to start in goal barring anything unforeseen, as the Rangers will look to snap a two-game losing streak.

Rangers Fall To Blues 4-1

The Rangers lost to the St. Louis Blues tonight by a score of 4-1, and were really outplayed from start to finish.

If you missed the game today - well, then lucky you. Right from the beginning the Rangers just looked completely mismatched and were lacking energy. It really wasn't until the third period when the Rangers really had sustained offensive pressure in the Blues' zone, and the game actually could've looked much worse if the Rangers had any other goalie besides Henrik Lundqvist in goal for them. John Tortorella juggled his lines a lot as the game went on in hopes of finding something to spark the team (including reuniting Marian Gaborik and Brad Richards on the same line), but nothing worked.

Click below to read my notes on tonight's game.

Breaking News: Marc Staal, Wojtek Wolski, Mike Rupp Travel With Team To Florida

Some very surprising news just broke right now, courtesy of Jim Cerny, that Marc Staal, Wojtek Wolski and Mike Rupp are all traveling with the Rangers to Florida today as they prepare to take on the Panthers tomorrow night. Wolski (groin) and Rupp (knee) are both still several weeks away from returning, but the status of Marc Staal (concussion) is completely up in the air. Larry Brooks reported late last week that Staal had just recently been cleared to resume light workouts, though the Rangers have not given any official update on Marc Staal since the end of training camp.

This has to be looked at as a huge step forward for Marc Staal's recovery from his concussion. We really have no concrete information on how his recovery has gone so far, but the very fact that the Rangers would allow him to fly is a huge deal. Teams typically do not allow a player suffering from a concussion to fly unless he is cleared of all symptoms and is no longer experiencing headaches.

Does this mean Marc Staal is even further along than we thought? It sure seems that way, but right now this is all speculation. Dan Rosen of NHL.com speculated that Staal might be just getting antsy and wants to be around the team since he's been away from the boys for so long. Even if that's the case, the Rangers would still have to deem him fit to fly no matter what the case is. It's interesting to note that the Rangers have a game tomorrow in Florida and a game against the Capitals in Washington on Friday before returning for a two-game homestand at the Garden. It really wouldn't make sense to have Staal traveling with the team on a brief two-game road trip if he wasn't closer to playing than perhaps we all thought.

Several Current and Ex-Rangers Affected By KHL Plane Crash

The tragic plane crash that reportedly killed somewhere between 36 to 43 members of the KHL team Lokomotiv Yaroslavl this morning has hit everybody hard who is around the game of hockey, including several members of the New York Rangers. As Andrew Gross pointed out on Twitter, Marian Gaborik has lost two of his closest friends and former teammates within the last several months - first Derek Boogaard and now Pavol Demitra. One of Henrik Lundqvist's friends, Swedish goaltender Stefan Liv, also perished on the flight. Mike Rupp also played with ex-Ranger Karel Rachunek when they were with the Devils during Rachunek's last NHL stint before playing in Europe.

Gross has talked to several Rangers and have gotten their reactions on the crash.

Henrik Lundqvist devastated when told former Swedish national team teammate G Stefan Liv may have been on flight.

Lundqvist, told of Stefan Liv (now confirmed to be on flight), buries head in hands and says, like him, Liv was married this summer.

Mike Rupp befriended Karel Rachunek during their time with the Devils. "He was a quiet guy with a really good sense of humor."

Artem Anisimov came up with Locomotiv, says he knows about half the roster. "I feel like it can't happen. I feel sick about that."

 Andrew Gross on Twitter

More to come later today as news and reactions around hockey continue to break.

Breaking News: Rangers Sign Brad Richards To 9-Year, $60 Million Deal

On the second day of free agency, the Rangers have officially landed their No. 1 target - Brad Richards is now a New York Ranger. The talented center agreed to a blockbuster 9-year, $60 million deal, which averages out to about $6.67 million per year. The Rangers beat out the Toronto Maple Leafs, Calgary Flames and Los Angeles Kings in the Richards Sweepstakes, who were the other top suitors for Richards.