Bobby Bevilacqua

Cam Talbot will be in net for the Rangers on Thursday night in Boston, making his ninth start of the season. Talbot made 12 saves in the third period in the loss against the Islanders. Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.

Following a tough loss to the Islanders on Tuesday, the Rangers were back to work today, practicing before heading to Boston for tomorrow’s game.

Derek Stepan was absent for most of the game yesterday, and is now listed as day-to-day with an upper body injury. In the first period of the Islanders game, it appeared that Stepan was slashed on the hand by Matt Martin, a play that was not penalized.

Stepan will travel with the team to Boston, but Vigneault said that it is “most unlikely” that he would play on Thursday.

With that in mind, Alain Vigneault did some line juggling practice to accommodate the absence of Stepan. Rather than recalling a player from Hartford, Vigneault had JT Miller centering the second line in between Chris Kreider and Martin St. Louis.

Dominic Moore center the third line with Carl Hagelin and Lee Stempniak on the wings, with Kevin Hayes centering Tanner Glass and Jesper Fast on the bottom line.

Only the top line of Rick Nash, Derick Brassard, and Mats Zuccarello remained unchanged.

JT Miller has played center this season, but has had most of his success on the wing. However, Miller did have some success playing with St. Louis back when Kreider was out of the lineup with neck spasms.

Tanner Glass would be back in the lineup for the first time since December 29^th in a loss against the Stars. Glass has one assist and a -12 rating in 29 games.

If Derek Stepan is not available for the Bruins game, Tanner Glass would be reinserted into the lineup for the first time in six games. Glass has one assist in 29 games this season. Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.

Cam Talbot will get the start for the Rangers after a strong showing in the third period against the Islanders. The Rangers are also playing in Columbus on Friday, so this allows Henrik Lundqvist to get some additional rest.

Talbot picked up his fourth win of the season against the Los Angeles Kings on January 8^th, allowing three goals on 31 shots.