Currently casualty list:
#1 goalie, #1 defenseman, 3rd line center, important PKing dman, shootout specialist, 4th line pest, pseudo-top-6 winger.
Although most of the latter names (Scuderi, Christensen, Ruutu and Malone) seem to be just minorly dinged up, the long list of casualties seems to be moving in the wrong direction.
Best guess at how the lines could look are as follows:
Malone*-Crosby-Kennedy
Laraque-Malkin-Sykora
Roberts-Staal-Armstrong
James-Hall-Ruutu**
*Malone had to see a doctor for a gash on his leg....Being as he's something of a tough customer and has been on the topline of late, I expect he'll be geared up to play in this game. It is a contract year for Taters, after all.
**Ruutu or Christensen, who knows.
For a ragtime lineup, that's not terrible...By the way, your eyes didn't deceive you, that's Georges Laraque in a top 6 role. It won't last long, I wouldn't be surprised if Therrien juggles that up before the end of the first....But that's how it will start.
To make matters worse, tonight's game starts off a pretty frantic 4 game in 6 night (at Boston, at NYI and then home for Boston) rush before the Christmas breather. During this stretch we're likely to see Ty Conklin, gulp, man a NHL crease once again.
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