Rangers' young players still finding their way
TORONTO - Just before the morning skate at Air Canada Centre, Brian Boyle and Enver Lisin emerged from the dressing room, crossed the corridor and looked warily at a short stairway that seemed to lead to suites. It is an unusual route from the runway to the ice, and they had to ask to be sure.
Mark Messier, the special assistant to general manager Glen Sather, noted that you could tell how young the team is by the number of players asking for directions.
Lisin, 23, played 78 games with Phoenix over three seasons and Boyle, 24, dressed for 36 games with Los Angeles. It also was the first pro game in Canada for rookies Michael Del Zotto, 19, who grew up in nearby Stouffville, and North Bellmore's Matt Gilroy, who played at Boston University.
Kotalik to third line
In another third-line tweaking, RW Ales Kotalik, off to a hot start with three goals and four assists, was moved to that unit, joining C Artem Anisimov and Sean Avery. Kotalik, signed as a free agent to a three-year, $9-million contract, had been dropped to the fourth line when Avery returned against the Ducks six days ago after a knee sprain forced him to miss the first four games.
Heated rivalry
Smithtown's Christopher Higgins, who played in Montreal for four years, recalled the Canadiens-Leafs battles that he experienced here. "It didn't matter if one of us was in first and the other was in last," he said . . . The last time the Rangers had a seven-game winning streak was from Feb. 1 to March 2 in 2006.
