Music: {allcanada} Senators' Turris game-time decision vs. Rangers

Sunday, December 6, 2015

{allcanada} Senators' Turris game-time decision vs. Rangers

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SENATORS (14-7-5) at RANGERS (17-7-3)

TV: TVA Sports, TSN5, MSG

NEW YORK – Center Kyle Turris will be a game-time decision when the Ottawa Senators open a four-game road trip against the New York Rangers on Sunday.

Turris left Ottawa's 3-2 overtime victory against the New York Islanders on Saturday late in the third period with an injured right leg. The Senators said X-rays showed no broken bones, and he made the trip to New York.

"It looked a lot worse than it was," coach Dave Cameron said Sunday. "Injuries are fluke things. If he's able to play, it would be the luck of the draw."

Turris has played 287 consecutive games since being acquired by the Senators from the Arizona Coyotes on Dec. 17, 2011. Should he be unable to play, Cameron said Ottawa will dress seven defensemen. That would mean Patrick Wiercioch, a healthy scratch Saturday, would play.

Neither team had a morning skate.

The Senators have won their past two games in overtime, against the Chicago Blackhawks and Islanders, after back-to-back regulation losses to the Coyotes and Philadelphia Flyers. On Saturday, Mike Hoffman tied the game with 36.2 seconds left in the third period, and Erik Karlsson scored with 1:26 remaining in OT for the win.

"The whole team has played really well for stretches," Cameron said. "We have to eliminate those stretches where we're not. We've been finding ways to get points and do good things. We just have to do them longer."

With backup goaltender Andrew Hammond still sidelined because of an upper-body injury, Craig Anderson will make his 11th consecutive start.

The Senators have enjoyed remarkable success at Madison Square Garden during the past decade. They are 8-0-1 in their past nine visits and 14-1-2 since a 5-1 loss on Feb. 8, 2006.

The Rangers, who start a three-game Western Canada trip against the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday, are 1-4-1 in their past six games following a 2-1 home loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday.

With his team having scored one goal in each of its past two games, coach Alain Vigneault rearranged his forward lines at practice Saturday, moving rookie Oscar Lindberg into the middle between Chris Kreider and Rick Nash.

"This is just a look I wanted to see [Saturday]," Vigneault said after practice. "I'm not 100 percent sure we're gonna go this way [Sunday]."

Here are the projected lineups:

SENATORS

Mike Hoffman – Kyle Turris – Bobby Ryan

Shane Prince – Mika Zibanejad – Mark Stone

Curtis Lazar – Jean-Gabriel Pageau – Alex Chiasson

David Dziurzynski – Zack Smith – Chris Neil

Marc Methot - Erik Karlsson

Jared Cowen - Cody Ceci

Mark Borowiecki – Chris Wideman

Craig Anderson

Chris Driedger

Injured: Chris Phillips (back), Clarke MacArthur (concussion), Andrew Hammond (upper body), Milan Michalek (finger)

Scratched: Patrick Wiercioch

RANGERS

Kevin Hayes - Derick Brassard - Mats Zuccarello

Chris Kreider – Oscar Lindberg – Rick Nash

J.T. Miller – Dominic Moore – Jesper Fast

Tanner Glass - Jarret Stoll - Viktor Stalberg

Ryan McDonagh - Dan Girardi

Marc Staal - Dan Boyle

Keith Yandle - Dylan McIlrath

Henrik Lundqvist

Antti Raanta

Injured: Derek Stepan (broken ribs), Kevin Klein (strained oblique)

Scratched: Emerson Etem

Status report: Cameron said Hammond is day-to-day. … Glass is playing his third consecutive game since being recalled from Hartford of the American Hockey League. The Rangers are likely to call up a defenseman in time for the opener of their three-game trip through Western Canada.

Who's hot: Hoffman's game-tying goal Saturday extended his point streak to seven games. … Karlsson has 20 points in his past 12 games. He leads the NHL with 26 assists and is tops among defensemen with 32 points. … Lindberg has two goals in his past three games and is tied for second in goals among rookies with 10.

Team Stats