Richards should boost Rangers' power play

NEWARK -- The Rangers' power play, which short-circuited often enough last season to finish in 18th place in the NHL, needed re-engineering.

The first, and critical, part of the overhaul was to sign free- agent center Brad Richards, a peerless playmaker, in July.

The second, which was unveiled in Richards' first game as a Ranger on Friday night against the Devils, was to install a five-forward unit, with No. 19 as the quarterback on the blue line.

"I know him well enough; I'm not putting the harness on him," said coach John Tortorella, who coached Richards with the Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning in 2004. "I want him to create, move into different areas and other people move out of the areas because he's there."

Among the group of five during Friday's morning skate were Richards' new linemates, Marian Gaborik and Wojtek Wolski, and captain Ryan Callahan. "They need to communicate," Tortorella said. "We give them a foundation on the breakout, how we retrieve it, then they need to take over."

After the five-forward look did nothing for 1:15 in the first period, Gaborik fired in a rebound of Callahan's power-play shot at 1:32 of the second period to give the Rangers a 3-1 lead. But the Devils scored on a four-on-four and a five-on-three to tie the score at 3 late in the second. The Rangers' power play ended 1-for-6, but Brendan Bell's goal with 3:04 left gave them a 4-3 win.

One missing defenseman was All-Star Marc Staal, who was finishing tests with neurological specialists for the second consecutive day. Tortorella said that depending on the results, Staal might not accompany the team when it leaves Monday for a four-game stretch of preseason games in Europe.

Staal began experiencing headaches during workouts this summer, months after suffering a concussion Feb. 22 on a high hit from his brother, Eric, of the Hurricanes. Staal could fly to Europe later, Tortorella said, and reminded that the target date for his return remains Oct. 7.