Rangers promise a tough game against Toronto

TORONTO - Colby Armstrong, who separated Marian Gaborik's left shoulder with an illegal boarding last Friday, will be in the lineup Thursday for the Maple Leafs. So will Mike Brown, who traded punches with Brandon Prust as the Leafs won the Rangers' home opener, 4-3, in overtime.

Toronto's Colton Orr could renew acquaintances with Derek Boogaard. The Leafs' Mike Komisarek took two slashes from Sean Avery and scoffed at him in the postgame locker room

Chippy rematch anyone?

Rangers coach John Tortorella promised Wednesday that the Rangers (1-2-1) will play tough against the Leafs Thursday, but stopped short of declaring retaliation at Air Canada Centre.

"We're playing these guys two more times this month [Oct. 30 in Toronto as well] and when you play that close it can get heated," Tortorella said after practice. "Sometimes they'll be some bad blood. It should be intense. That's what we need . . . We can't focus on one thing. We've got to focus on winning. We'll see how the game goes. We'll play hard."

There will be at least three, and possibly four, different faces in the lineup Thursday. Gaborik will miss up to a month and Chris Drury, who re-broke his left index finger when he fell awkwardly in the loss, are out. Centers Todd White and Erik Christensen, who didn't play Friday, will play.

And rookie defenseman Mike Sauer, 22, who also didn't play Friday, will dress as half of the third 'D' pair, meaning either Steve Eminger, who had an assist and spent 2:50 on the penalty kill Friday, or Matt Gilroy, who spent 2:05 on the 0-for-5 power play, will be a healthy scratch. The fourth new face could be backup goaltender Martin Biron,

Biron will play in this set of three games in four nights, Tortorella said, although he did not specify whether Biron would make his Rangers debut Thursday in Toronto, Saturday in Boston or Sunday against the Devils at the Garden. The latter is the least likely, however, because Henrik Lundqvist fares well against the Devils.