Tonight vs. Panthers: Lundqvist in goal, Kreider third-liner

Henrik Lundqvist said his neck was fine and had no headaches after a full practice this morning, which ended with John Tortorella gathering the group at the far end of the ice away from the media and giving them some profanity-laced warnings before skating off alone to the dressing room.

We can only assume the choice words and instructions were about taking the 15th-place Panthers too lightly. Torts will address the media before the game at MSG.  

Anyway,  using Lundqvist instead of Martin Biron also sends a signal that the coach isn't looking past Florida to Washington on Sunday. Why wouldn't the coach want a four-game winning streak before three roadies---against Philly, Ottawa and Montreal---next week and with only a handful of home games left in the season?

Kreider, the 21-year-old left wing recalled yesterday, was on a line centered by Brian Boyle and with J.T. Miller on the right. I like the look of this trio.

The top two lines remained the same, and the fourth line was Pyatt-Halpern-Powe. Arron Asham will be scratched again, remaining on the ice for conditioning drills with assistant coach Jim Schoenfeld.

The d-pairs in the skate were:

McDonagh-Girardi; Del Zotto-Eminger; Stralman-Hamrlik; Bickel-Gilroy.  Assuming the last duo are healthy scratches again.

More from Kreider in a few...