Rangers Face Must Win And Will Do It Without Brad Richards

It is win or go home time for the NY rangers Tonight at Madison Square Garden. It is the 3rd time this post season the Rangers have faced this predicament.

However this 1 will be a bit different. The Rangers will go without assistant captain Brad Richards. Head coach John Tortorella has benched the AC in large part because he has had a poor season compounded by a very subpar post season.

Richards spoke to the media after practice on Thursday and claimed he wasn't surprised by the benching but said he was " disappointed" by Tortorella's decision.

The Rangers face a huge decision this off season concerning Richards. he inked a 9 year deal before the 2011-2012 season in which he is to be paid about 60 million dollars. The Rangers have the ability as do all teams in the NHL to "amnesty" a player, meaning they can waive him without having to eat the full contract. However the Rangers could decide to see if Richards bad season was just an a temporary setback as the amnesty clause can be carried over to the 2-13/14 off season. My guess is the Rangers will cut loose Richards now and try and use those dollars to attract another free agent.

Back to the  do or die game 4. The Bruins beat the Rangers in game 3 on Tuesday night putting NY in the hole. The Rangers will also bench Arron Asham for game 4. This makes no sense as it was Asham who scored the big goal in game 6 to beat the Washington capitals in the 1st round with the Rangers facing a win or go home scenario as well.

Tortorella will add to  the game 4 roster and lineup 2 rookies in forwards Kris Newbury and Michael Haley. Faceoff for game 4 at MSG is 7:00 pm