Drury set to resume skating

DETROIT - Chris Drury, who has been out since last Monday with a broken left index finger, takes his first step toward returning to action when he begins skating this week.

"I talked to Dru before we left and to Rammer [trainer Jim Ramsay], and we're hoping he starts with a coach," John Tortorella said. "We'll put him through some things. We just want to make sure it's solidifed a little bit, in case he does fall or something, so he'll just be skating and conditioning."

During a scrimmage, the Rangers captain was struck by a shot from Matt Gilroy on the seam of the glove. He did not need surgery and is wearing a splint. The intial estimate was that Drury would miss four weeks, but it is possible that he could return by Oct. 9, when the Rangers open the season in Buffalo.

****

Even without Drury, one of their top penalty-killers, the Rangers have not allowed a power play goal in three preseason games, going 13-for-13.

Sunday night in a 5-3 loss to the Red Wings, the PK units killed a five-on-three for the second consecutive game. Alexei Semenov went off for slashing at 17:47 of the second period, followed by Pavel Valentenko's high stick of Tomas Holmstrom in a battle in the crease at 18:08.

But Martin Biron made some huge stops as Dan Girardi and Ryan McDonagh (who played 24:43 with an even rating and didn't seem too uncomfortable) blocked shots and broke up passes, along with Brian Boyle and Todd White.

****

With a handful of roster trims coming Monday, Michael Sauer (who struggled in the neutral zone and elsewhere) and Evgeny Grachev (one shot in 11:42) did little to make a case for them to stick. Mats Zuccarello had one shot and was a minus-2 . . . Tryout Garnet Exelby, who didn't play, is also on the bubble with Dane Byers and Dale Weise . . . The Rangers were dreadful on faceoffs again (35 percent) . . . Tortorella said the team would probably carry more than 20 players for the Oct. 9 opener, which means at least one extra forward and possibly one defenseman.