Dan Boyle trying to accept reduced role

Dan Boyle is coming to grips with the reality of not playing every single game for the Rangers.

The 39-year-old defenseman, who said he is struggling with his confidence, was a healthy scratch for two games before dressing in the 4-1 victory over the Coyotes on Saturday night.

Boyle will be in the lineup when the Hurricanes come calling on Tuesday night. But he is well aware of the circumstances, with the front office wanting to check out rookie Dylan McIlrath as well as preparing to give him a game off, especially when the schedule is crowded.

"I understand. I've been a young guy . . . and I know you've got to let the young guys have the opportunity to play and to prove themselves," Boyle said after practice at the MSG Training Center on Monday. "I just concentrate on the task at hand. I just try and be the best that I can be and try to regain some of that confidence I've struggled with at times this season . . . I think the struggle this year has been between the ears.''

Coach Alain Vigneault has been frank with Boyle -- they've had several conversations on the topic -- and said Monday that general manager Jeff Gorton also has spoken with Boyle's agent.

"I know Jeff had the same conversation with his agent," Vigneault said. "I didn't expect Dan to be happy about it or cheery about it, but at 39, we are trying to be smart with him. He's an important part of our team, and when we need him in the lineup, we expect him to play well and play to his strengths. It might not be the minutes he once had, but he's also not the same player he once was.''

Boyle played a pretty solid 18 minutes on Saturday night. He picked up an assist with a nice up-ice pass on J.T. Miller's goal, blocked two shots and had a plus-2 rating.

"I am literally taking it one day at a time," said Boyle, in the final season of a two-year contract. "I could play one good game, but if I don't show up in the next one, it's not good."

Brotherly reunion

Tuesday night marks another meeting of the Staal brothers; centers Eric and Jordan on the Hurricanes and defenseman Marc on the Rangers.

"It's hard, it's fun, kind of both," Marc said Monday. "You're playing against two guys you grew up with. It's always a different feeling. It's a distraction, but we've learned to play with it. It's not a lot of fun for my parents: they hate it."

When Jordan was with the Penguins, Marc said, "I might have seen him only four, five shifts a game. Now it's harder, with those two behemoth bodies protecting the puck down low. You're usually up against one or the other. They tend to come into MSG and play well."

Eric Staal is 4-5-9 in 14 games and Jordan is 3-3-6.

Blue notes

The Rangers won all five of the games against Carolina (6-8, 13th in the Eastern Conference) last season, and Henrik Lundqvist, who will play Tuesday night, was 3-0-0 with a 1.26 goals-against-average and .951 save percentage. Lundqvist is eight saves away from passing Mike Richter for the most career saves (regular season and playoffs combined) in franchise history.

Vigneault, who said he had watched a game and a half's worth of Carolina's recent action on video, called the Hurricanes "a hard-working team. They throw a lot of pucks at the net, play a heavy-type game."

As a tribute to Veterans Day, the Rangers will wear camouflage jerseys during warmups and use camouflage tape on their sticks, which will be auctioned online to benefit the Wounded Warrior Project.