PIT vs NYR

Having been close twice has been far from good enough for the Rangers. So, going into Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals tomorrow night - a game they obviously must win - they will dispense with the minor tweaks and make a couple of significant lineup changes.

Coach Tom Renney had future Hall of Famer Brendan Shanahan skating on the fourth line at practice today, switching him with the far speedier Petr Prucha in an attempt to give centre Scott Gomez somebody who can keep up with him. And on defence, Renney apparently has seen enough of two games of tentative play by Christian Backman and will replace him in the practice rotation with hard-edged veteran Jason Strudwick.

"We'll see," Renney said after practice, unwilling to hand his lineup card to Michel Therrien in advance. "We thought we'd skate with that today and just have a look at it. Don't read too much into what you saw today. I'm still working on it."

The Rangers are trying to figure out how much - and precisely what - to read into their series-opening losses in Pittsburgh. Was the closeness of both games indicative of how easily the series could change course upon arriving in New York? Or did the Penguins simply reinforce their invincibility so far in these playoffs (they're 6-0) and establish supremacy over the Rangers?

"We know we're not far off," said goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, who was the best Ranger in Games 1 and 2. "We know it's been very close. The difference has been two tough calls, I think. Knowing that, we should go into this game feeling confident, feeling good, playing at home, have a little fun."

One more thing: After strangely excluding Paul Mara and his big slap shot from power-play duty while the Rangers were going 0-for-6 in Sunday's Game 2 loss, Renney said Mara will return to that job tomorrow night.