John Tortorella revealed in his pregame press conference a few minutes ago that Evgeny Grachev will make his second NHL start tonight here in Toronto, while Derek Boogaard also will be in the lineup as the Rangers take on the Maple Leafs. Todd White will be scratched, as will Michael Sauer, as Tortorella leaves his defense pairs intact. Henrik Lundqvist gets the start in goal for the Blueshirts, looking to both build on and rebound from last night’s performance against the Carolina Hurricanes.

Here’s what Tortorella had to say on a variety of topics…

On playing on the road after two straight home losses: “Home or away, we’re just trying to play consistent. We have struggled a bit at home. We’ll try to iron out some things tonight, try to play consistent.”

On Grachev: “He skated very well, finished his checks. His last shift of the night was when he turns it over a couple of times, one of them causes a two-on-one. But, again, he skated pretty well, was involved in the forecheck and we’ll give him another chance at it tonight.”

Struggling for the first time as a professional, Derek Stepan has been shifted to a line with another struggling player, Alex Frolov, for the Rangers’ game tonight at the Garden against the Carolina Hurricanes.

Stepan has gone without a point in the last three games, with a minus-2 rating, and was benched for much of the third period of Wednesday’s game against the Atlanta Thrashers. That game also marked the first time that Stepan didn’t see any power play time, though the Rangers only had the man advantage once in their 6-4 defeat.

“Step is a guy that I think sees the ice, and I think is a good defensive player,” John Tortorella said. “He’s had some struggles, as we’ve talked about, and we’ve gone over quite a bit with him. I’m not sure if it works. I want to - we had quite a few things with Step yesterday, and I want to give him an opportunity there. We may make some changes along the way if there’s still a struggle with his game.”

The Rangers got good news on the injury front today, as the MRI on Artem Anisimov’s ankle came back clean and the center is expected to be back in the lineup tomorrow night at the Garden, centering Brandon Dubinsky and Ryan Callahan as the Rangers face the Carolina Hurricanes.

Also expected back on the ice for tomorrow’s game is Michal Rozsival, who left last night’s game in the third period after hyperextending his knee. Neither player practiced today.

Derek Boogaard did practice today, but left the ice in the middle of the session, and will be a game-time decision tomorrow. The Rangers’ enforcer cut his knuckle during his fight with the Bruins’ Shawn Thornton on Saturday night, and has developed an infection. The swelling has left Boogaard unable to hold his stick.

With Boogaard in doubt, the Rangers will recall Evgeny Grachev from Hartford of the AHL. After a disappointing training camp, Grachev has continued to struggle for the Wolf Pack, with one goal and one assist in nine games - but nobody in Hartford has been dazzling of late as the Rangers’ top farm team has scored a grand total of 17 goals in a 3-4-2 start.

Martin Biron will get the start in goal for the Rangers tonight as they face the Atlanta Thrashers and try to extend their winning streak to four games.

Henrik Lundqvist was in nets for the last two games, but Biron did start the Rangers’ winning streak with a stellar performance in Toronto, and the Rangers want to keep their focus on the long term, not just trying to keep this roll going with their No. 1 goalie.

“Our plan with (Biron) is trying to get him, each month, three or four starts,” John Tortorella said. “I thought he played really well in Toronto, and if (the next game) wasn’t Boston, where Hank has had tremendous numbers, maybe we even go back with him. I don’t know, but Hank had such great numbers against Boston, and Hank’s (always going to play) against Jersey, so went back-to-back with Hank, but we have to get Biron back in, so he’ll play tonight.”