Rangers hope Dubinsky can add firepower

What can help a sputtering Rangers offense that has scored only five goals in four games?

Perhaps the returns of Brandon Dubinsky, who has missed three games with a sore shoulder, and Ruslan Fedotenko, who was forced out of Saturday's Maple Leafs game with back spasms and did not play Sunday against Montreal.

Kris Newbury, summoned from the AHL Connecticut Whale to sub for Fedotenko, was returned Monday, indicating that Dubinsky or Fedotenko or both will be ready to face the Nashville Predators, who have won five straight, Tuesday night at the Garden.

Dubinsky, in particular, could provide a boost if he can return to form after jamming his right shoulder when he was rubbed out along the boards by the Coyotes' Taylor Pyatt last Tuesday. He was rounding into power forward mode after a disappointing first half of the season and had four goals and four assists in the eight games before he was injured.

The big guns have been silent. Marian Gaborik, Brad Richards and Ryan Callahan have totaled only four goals in the past seven games. Artem Anisimov, an 18-goal scorer last season, has no points in 11 games. And a rusty Wojtek Wolski, coming back from surgery for a sports hernia, hasn't been the answer.

"I've got to get on the board somehow," Richards said after the 4-1 loss in Montreal.

Coach John Tortorella repeatedly has said the Rangers are built around a hard-working forecheck and a defense-first system that needs to cash in on opportunities to score. So far, superlative goaltending from Henrik Lundqvist and Martin Biron and timely goals have kept them among the top teams in the Eastern Conference.

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The Rangers are 11th in goals per game at 2.79, but if the defense regresses and an opponent springs out to a big lead, it's difficult to rally. Both the Bruins and Penguins, the two teams on the schedule after Tuesday night, are capable of that, being No. 1 and No. 8 in goals per game.

The power play isn't helping either; it's in a 1-for-23 skid that has dropped the team to 23rd overall. The record is particularly weak on the road at 9.5 percent. At home, it's 19.2 percent.

Should the scoring slump continue, there will be added pressure on general manager Glen Sather to find help up front, perhaps by trading a defenseman or prospect and a draft pick. Outside of Mats Zuccarello, there is no young scoring threat with the Whale. The trade deadline is Feb. 27.