Marian Gaborik and New York Rangers Take on Struggling Buffalo Sabres (UPDATE)

Tonight, the Rangers will host the Buffalo Sabres in what will be the second meeting of the season between the two teams. The Rangers defeated the Buffalo Sabres, 6-3 on October 9, led by Rangers rookie forward Derek Stepan's hat trick in his first career game. This home game is the Rangers third of four on their home stand, in which the Rangers have zero wins and two losses.

The big story for this game will be the return of superstar forward, Marian Gaborik. The Rangers were without Gaborik for the previous 12 games due to a shoulder injury, and in that span the Rangers held a 6-6-0 record. Not bad.

Without Gaborik the Rangers scored a total of 28 goals, and their power play is ranked 15th in the league at 17.2 percent.

Brandon Dubinsky, Ryan Callahan, Artem Anisimov and Brian Boyle led the Rangers offensively without Gaborik, scoring a total of 18 goals combined.

Dubinsky, Callahan and Anisimov have played on the top line for the Rangers, and they will likely continue to play as the first line when Gaborik returns.

In three games this season, Marian Gaborik has two points, both assists. Though nothing is set in stone, he is expected to play on a line with Alexander Frolov and Erik Christensen. There is also the possibility that he plays on a line with Derek Stepan, who has not scored a goal since his hat trick against Buffalo in the first game of the season.

Gaborik’s return will help the Rangers offensively, obviously, and their struggling power play should improve with him back in the lineup. Another player that should benefit by his return is Alexander Frolov, who has two goals and four assists in 15 games, though he has not scored a goal in his last nine games. Playing with Gaborik should help him begin scoring.

Todd White will likely become a healthy scratch for the Rangers as Gaborik returns, but there is the possibility that Derek Boogaard is scratched from tonight’s lineup instead.

The Rangers also took a major hit to their lineup with the injury to Michal Rozsival, who sprained his shoulder against the Capitals and was unable to practice with the Rangers Wednesday morning. It was announced after practice that Rozsival will sit out for seven-to-10 days with the injury, and that Matt Gilroy will take his spot in the lineup.

Rozsival has been one of the Rangers' better defensemen this season, and losing him is a major blow to the Rangers' young defensive corps. Rozsival can miss as many as six games in 10 days.

Matt Gilroy has played in eight games this season, and he has yet to register a point for the Rangers. He is expected to play on the third defensive pairing with rookie defenseman Michael Sauer, and Gilroy may get an opportunity to play with one of the Rangers power play units.

This will be Gilroy’s chance to show that he belongs in the Rangers lineup.

Henrik Lundqvist will likely get the call for tonight’s game as the starting goalie, and he looks to bounce back from a poor outing against the Capitals on Tuesday.

If there are any changes to the lineup, I will post an update.

Thanks for the read, hope you enjoyed. Feel free to comment below.

UPDATE:

According to Steve Zipay of Newsday, Martin Biron will get the start tonight for the New York Rangers. Henrik Lundqvist showed up to the Arena sick, and unable to play tonight against the Sabres.

Derek Boogaard is a healthy scratch tonight for the Rangers, and Marian Gaborik will start the game playing with Alexander Frolov and Erik Christensen.