Paul Ranger To Be Shut Down (And Other Morning Notes)

Posted Feb 19, 2009 by Erik Erlendsson

Updated Feb 19, 2009 at 01:36 PM

TAMPA - Looks like Paul Ranger is going to be shut down for the season. It hasn’t been stated specifically, but in talking with Rick Tocchet this morning, he indicated that they are close to making the decision, although it sounds like they already have.

As of this morning, Tocchet said they had probably one more meeting to hold on the subject before making it final. The team said a release would be sent out at some point today, so looks like Ranger is facing another summer of rehabilitation following surgery. Tocchet didn’t say yet what the injury to Ranger is, but indicated some kind of a procedure is ahead of Ranger.

More on that later.

Gary Roberts will be out of the lineup tonight, although he’s not being benched as Tocchet said it’s a maintenance issue and Roberts will play on Friday in Carolina. Evgeny Artyukhnin is back in the lineup after being scratched on Tuesday.

David Koci will also be scratched while Marek Malik did skate for the second day in a row, but won’t play tonight as Ty Wishart once again gets a chance to gain some experience.

Karri Ramo returns to the net after a strong 44-save performance on Tuesday against Chicago. They’ll need a similar effort out of Ramo tonight to have any hopes of beating the Devils. For New Jersey, former Lightning goaltender Kevin Weekes gets the start in place of Scott Clemmensen, who is only the second goaltender in franchise history to win 25 games in a season.