Outside the Rangers locker room at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Rangers head coach John Tortorella met the media for a briefing prior to Sunday's game against the Canadiens. Tortorella announced that Henrik Lundqvist would start in goal, that Brandon Dubinsky would remain out of the lineup with a sore shoulder, and that Kris Newbury---recalled earlier in the day from Connecticut---would take Ruslan Fedotenko's spot in the lineup as Fedotenko will miss the game due to back spasms.
"He wrenched it during the game (last night) and then it just spasmed," Tortorella said of Fedotenko's injury. "I'm not sure how that's going to work out (in the long run)."
Fedotenko will join Dubinsky on the sidelines, as Dubinsky will miss his third straight contest due to a shoulder injury suffered in last Tuesday's victory over Phoenix.
"We wanted to give him this wekeend, and the team will have a full day off tomorrow, and hopefully things will settle down," Tortorella said of Dubinsky's health status.
As for Newbury, the 29 year-old leads the Whale in goals (15) and points (36), and is tied for the team lead in assists (21) and penalty minutes (80). Ranked ninth in the AHL in points, Newbury appeared in six games with the Rangers earlier in the season and was held without a point.
Lundqvist will be back in goal tonight after watching Martin Biron backstop his second shutout of the season last night in Toronto. Lundqvist has won seven of his last eight starts and enters play tied for second in the NHL with a .937 save percentage and is third among all goalies with a 1.89 goals against average.
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