Dubinsky not ready; suspended Prust misses first game
Rangers' Brandon Dubinsky leaves the ice after warmups before a game against the Carolina Hurricanes. (March 1, 2012) Credit: Getty Images
NEWARK -- Brandon Dubinsky's right ankle injury is healing, but not enough for him to dress Monday night for Game 4.
"This team doesn't do percentages . . . It's usually a yes or no and tonight's a no," Dubinsky said after a morning practice at Madison Square Garden.
Dubinsky remained on ice to skate with Brandon Prust, who served his one-game suspension for an elbow to the head of Anton Volchenkov in Game 3.
"It's getting better," said Dubinsky, who is skating more freely after being out three weeks, much of which he spent wearing a walking boot and using crutches. "I'm trying to get back as soon as I can. It's just a matter of the process and conditioning. I feel like I've stayed on top of it. It's the conference finals; you can find enough adrenaline to push you through games."
Prust, who had played in all previous Rangers games this season, called his sitting out disappointing and frustrating.
"I definitely didn't violently attack anybody," he said. "But I still got my elbow up, and we're trying to get that out of the game . . . You never want to be up in the stands or the press box."
Blue notes
The Rangers dressed seven defensemen. Rookie Stu Bickel replaced Prust on the fourth line and Steve Eminger was in the lineup for the second consecutive game. Bickel last played forward Feb. 11 against the Flyers when Ruslan Fedotenko was injured . . . Five players have dressed for all of the team's 100 games: Brad Richards, Dan Girardi, Ryan McDonagh, Marian Gaborik and Derek Stepan.
