Mats Zuccarello back in lineup in Raleigh; wild month for Diaz

           Here in Raleigh, the Rangers should send out three very solid lines and some intruiging power play units tonight for the first time since the Winter Olympics ended.

           Mats Zuccarello, who broke his left hand blocking a shot while playing for Team Norway, will dress, and presumably be inserted back on a line with Derick Brassard and Benoit Pouliot, where he found plenty of success before Sochi. 

           For his first road game as a Ranger, Martin St. Louis is expected back with Brad Richards and Carl Hagelin, and Chris Kreider, Derek Stepan and Rick Nash will be the other main trio.

           About that last line, which has been a little stale. Nash has one goal in nine games; Stepan one in 10 and Kreider one in 11. That's not acceptable, as coach Alain Vigneault said on Thursday.

          He also said that Henrik Lundqvist, who will start and has been on the wrong end of the ledger in the past three games, allowing 13 goals, needed to return to his pre-Sochi and Sochi form.

          Newest defenseman Raphael Diaz, acquired from the Canucks on Wednesday for a fifth-round pick in 2015, skated with the scratches: Derek Dorsett and Justin Falk, as well as backup Cam Talbot. It's Dorsett's second scratch in the last four. 

         It's been a month of travel and change for Diaz, 28. The Rangers jersey he wore today---No. 4---was the fourth he's donned since Feb. 3. On that day, he was traded from Montreal to Vancouver for ex-Ranger Dale Weise; he played three games for the Canucks before leaving to play for Team Switzerland in Sochi. When he came back to Canada, he played two games on right wing because the Vancouver defensemen were healthy.  It was a position he had never played, he said today.

         "They (Vancouver) had four defensemen injured, and I played right away,' Diaz said. "After the Olympics, everybody was healthy, I played one more game as a defenseman, and then I was playing two games as a forward."

         Funny line about the Torts/Sullivan strategy: "They asked me if I ever played forward before, I said "no", and they said, "OK, just play". 

         Diaz, who is a right-hander, said he likes to play offensively when the opportunity arises, but must be aware of his defensive responsibility. He said he will learn more about the Rangers' system in mettings on Saturday. "I'll see from there what they expect...it's a really good opportunity to play for an organization like the Rangers, with such history. I'm really proud to play for such an organization."

        The future? Well, he could spell John Moore on the third pair at some point, I suppose, or even Kevin Klein. Before the trade, he was third in assists (11) among Montreal defensemen.

        FYI: It appears Anton Khudobin 14-8-0, 2.16, .928 will be in the nets against the Blueshirts, who have won five straight here. Top Canes d-man Justin Faulk is injured.

       More later...

       One last item: Call it "Van Gogh". Team equipment managers work their chips off, often without much recognition from outside the perimeter. Let me just mention this. When the Rangers regular charter---on which those guys usually travel--- wasn't available and the team flew here on three smaller private planes, the intrepid trio of  Acacio Marques, assistant Jason Levy and part-time assist Tim Webb drove a van from Westchester County to Raleigh and arrived at 5 a.m. They were hard at work in the visiting team area well before the writers were there at 10:45.