Rangers' Ruslan Fedotenko out with head injury
A Rangers' trainer checks on left winger Ruslan Fedotenko who was injured against the Lightning. (Feb. 9, 2012) Credit: AP
GREENBURGH, N.Y. -- On Saturday afternoon, the Rangers face a Philadelphia Flyers team that's usually keen for confrontation. They might not have to press too hard.
Left wing Ruslan Fedotenko did not make the trip after suffering an undisclosed head injury in Thursday's win over Tampa Bay -- a shot that several Rangers called dirty. Teammates said they rallied around Fedotenko's injury to come back and beat the Lightning, 4-3, in overtime. And they'll certainly use his absence Saturday as motivation against the Flyers in Philadelphia.
Instead of calling up a player, coach John Tortorella said the team will face the Flyers with only seven defensemen.
Fedotenko tried riding the bike Friday but, according to Tortorella, he "didn't feel great."
"I'm not sure how serious it is," Tortorella said. "He just didn't feel right. [Trainer Jim Ramsey] hasn't really gone into any detail with me."
The Rangers' locker room still was infuriated about Dominic Moore's hit at 3:05 in the third, which left Fedotenko momentarily lying face-down on the ice.
"You never want to see anybody hurt," center Derek Stepan said. "Feds is tough, though. To see him get up and kind of go off the ice, it kind of relaxes you a little bit."
Fedotenko has missed only one other game this season: Jan. 15 against Montreal with back spasms. He is 11th on the team with 14 points, but his contributions don't go unnoticed.
"He does a lot of things people don't really notice -- blocking shots, killing penalties," right wing Ryan Callahan said. "He's a consistent guy for us. It's a big hole if he can't play \."
The Flyers are fourth in the Eastern Conference and have yet to beat the Rangers in four games this season.
"Philly's going to go straight ahead, we're going to go straight ahead," Tortorella said. "And we'll see where we go."
Notes & quotes: Defenseman Steve Eminger played less than 13 minutes against the Lightning in his first game back since separating his right shoulder in December. He took a couple of hits early in the first period and said he's ready to move forward. "This morning it feels great," Eminger said. "It feels like it was three months ago. It feels fine." . . . Brad Richards, who scored the winning goal in overtime against the Lightning, was given a day off Friday.
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