OTTAWA – The Hobbit’s sequel with the Rangers won’t begin for at least another few days, but Mats Zuccarello was content being back in a blue jersey on Thursday morning at Scotiabank Place – even while bag-skating as a healthy scratch following his official re-signing with the team.
 
“It’s a great feeling,” Zuccarello said Thursday morning at his locker, standing a bit taller in skates than his listed 5-7. “It was something I wanted to do, and when I got the chance it was a pretty easy choice.”
 
The diminutive 25-year-old Norwegian playmaker played this past full season in the Kontinental Hockey League for Metallurg Magnitogorsk, leaving the Rangers after last season when he said that spending most of the year in the AHL and playing just 10 NHL games was “not enough for me.”
 
“I wasn’t thinking about (returning to the Rangers) when I left,” Zuccarello admitted on Thursday, “but when I heard there was interest, I was happy about that, and it was a quick choice.”
 
Zuccarello has signed a one-way contract – he insisted on it – to remain with the Rangers for the remainder of this season for the pro-rated amount of a $700,000 annual salary, which by my calculation is about $137,000 for the 16 regular-season games he will be on the roster.
 
He had played the first year of a two-year deal with Metallurg but said on Thursday that his contract with the KHL club now is terminated. So after this season, Zuccarello will be a restricted free agent and again will face the scenario he did last spring – re-sign with the Rangers or ink a new deal with a KHL club such as Metallurg.
 
Zuccarello, a shifty left wing, had eight goals and 18 assists during the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons while playing 52 games for the Rangers. This past season with Metallurg, Zuccarello scored 11 goals with 17 assists in 44 regular season games, including three power play goals. He said the league was more physical than he’d anticipated but a different game still than the NHL’s.
 
In the past, he has helped the movement on the Blueshirts’ frequently stagnant power play.
 
“Zucc isn’t in the lineup tonight,” John Tortorella said Thursday morning, not wanting to go into detail. “We’ll talk about that tomorrow.”
 
But the Norwegian is glad to be back, saying he believes he’ll be ready when his name is called.
 
“I had some newspaper ask me earlier this year if I wanted to come back, and which team I wanted to come back to,” Zuccarello said. “And I told them (whether) I was a restricted or unrestricted (free agent), this is the team I wanted to come back to.”
 
RANGERS LINEUP
The Rangers will start Henrik Lundqvist in goal for the ninth consecutive game (3-4-1 in last eight) and will use the same lineup that defeated the Philadelphia Flyers, 5-2, on Tuesday night to open the three-game road trip:
 
Forwards: Carl Hagelin-Derek Stepan-Ryan Callahan, Chris Kreider-Brad Richards-Rick Nash, Marian Gaborik-Brian Boyle-J.T. Miller, Darroll Powe-Kris Newbury-Arron Asham
 
Defensemen: Ryan McDonagh-Dan Girardi, Michael Del Zotto-Steve Eminger, Roman Hamrlik-Anton Stralman
 
Goalie: Henrik Lundqvist
 
John Tortorella scratched Darroll Powe for the first time this season for the Flyers game, leaving Powe out of the lineup against his former team. The penalty kill, where Powe is billed a specialist, has given up a goal in four straight games – but that included Tuesday night in Philadelphia with Powe out of the lineup.
 
JOHN TORTORELLA PREGAME PRESS CONFERENCE - HIGHLIGHTS
There was meaningful information in Torts’ morning presser, but the first two quotes were the entertaining bloopers in this media scrum. (By the way, the Norwegian media arrived late after Torts talked and so were not there to prod him about Zuccarello):
 
Reporter asks if Rangers want to carry over their strong effort against Philly into Ottawa:“No. We want to end it right there and lose tonight. Yes, of course we do.”
 
Reporter asks how “Mike Richards” can start scoring more:“He’s doesn’t play here. Brad Richards?”
 
On Gaborik trying to find his game: “It’s legs with Gabby. He’s got to move his legs. At times in the game against Philly, he did, and I thought he helped create some offense. But that’s a key thing with him. He’s scored some big goals for us, and he’s scored a lot of goals for us. It’s still there. He’s still a really good player. But it’s just a matter of getting himself on track here, and it starts with his legs.”
 
More mental when Gaborik’s legs aren’t going?: “Well I just think it’s engaging, I think it’s testing people. That’s what I’d like to see him do is test people: a little bit of one-on-one, just to get himself going that way. And I believe he will. He has scored a lot of goals for us. It’s been a little bit of a dry run for him, along with a few other guys. But a couple got going the last game. Hopefully he’ll join in.”
 
On what needs to happen for penalty kill to be more consistent: “We have struggled, to me, blocking shots, quite honestly. I think we need to block more shots killing penalties. And the thing that sticks out the most is getting the puck out the first time. We had an opportunity before (the Flyers) scored their goal. (Hagelin) has the puck, gets stick-checked. We have given power play units second opportunities when the puck should be down the ice, and these teams have good players on their power plays. You give them a second whack at it, they’re going to create some offense. And I think that’s been one of our biggest weaknesses when it struggles. It has gone really well at times and it has struggled at times. That’s something we have to get situated.”
 
Something about Hamrlik’s game that caused Torts to bench him?:“I thought Hamrlik and Stralman really struggled in the first period, and we cut back. We didn’t want to go with four. We picked our Stral(man) as the guy that we’d spot in there, but they had some struggles in the first period. He’ll play tonight, but we have to win some games, and it’ll be shortened pretty quick if we don’t think it’s happening.”
 
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