Brad Richards picked up a huge goal for the Rangers as beat Montreal 5-3 on Saturday. The Rangers were gift-wrapped a win as Montreal took 10 minor penalties. Erik Christensen, Dan Girardi and Michael Del Zotto. The Canadiens began a comeback when Richards potted his fourth of the season. Ryan Callahan added an empty-netter for good measure. Artem Anisimov had two assists in the win.

Brad Richards and Marian Gaborik, who were split up in the third period of Thursday's game, continued to skate on different lines Friday. "The way I look at it, I think if you're going to get guys to get into a routine as a team, I don't think you can keep on changing lines as much as I have," Tortorella said. "But it's not one or two guys we need to get going, it's a team thing." Richards ended up on a line with Brandon Dubinsky and Ryan Callahan while Gaborik skated alongside Wojtek Wolski and Erik Christensen. Those are probably the combinations that will be used on Saturday, but we don't think too many games will pass before Tortorella reunites Richards and Gaborik.

Rangers coach John Tortorella split up Brad Richards and Marian Gaborik in the third period of Thursday's 4-2 loss to Toronto. Tortorella might have been trying to spark Richards, who is now pointless in his last three contests. We wouldn't worry too much about Richards' recent slumps. He's going to get cold from time to time and as far as slumps go, this one isn't particularly bad yet.

Brad Richards feels motivated to play in front of the Rangers' faithful for the first time this season. New York will finally have their home opener on Thursday night when they host Toronto in the refurbished Madison Square Garden. "I've been thinking about it for a while; it seems like it took forever to get here," said last summer's prized free agent signing. "The first thing you want to do with a new team is get into a new building and play in front of those fans, but that hasn't been the case. I can't wait to experience it ... There's no better feeling being on the ice in a building with great fans; you feel a little bigger, you feel a little stronger, faster." Richards has notched one goal and four assists in seven games with the Rangers this season.

Brad Richards scored his first goal with the New York Rangers, but it was not enough as the team dropped a 2-1 shootout decision to Anaheim Saturday. The Rangers struggled to generate scoring opportunities the entire game, but finally broke through when Richards got on the scoresheet with under three minutes remaining in the third period. He has yet to find chemistry with new linemate Marian Gaborik, but there's plenty of time left for the duo to get hot so be patient.

Brad Richards had a goal and an assist as New York beat the Devils 4-3 on Friday. This marked the first game that Richards played with Marian Gaborik. The results were fantastic as they each finished with a goal and an assist. Derek Stepan and Brendan Bell each scored as well. Ilya Kovalchuk had a goal and an assist in the losing effort. Chad Johnson come on to play the third period for New York and stopped all 10 shots he faced.

Brad Richards and Marian Gaborik will get their first chance to play on a line together in a preseason contest when they face the New Jersey Devils on Friday. It should be an interesting game, especially seeing as the Devils are projected to counter with goaltender Martin Brodeur. That being said, it's hard to read too much into any preseason showing and this game is no exception. Don't get overly excited or worried based on the duos performance in their first exhibition game together.

Brad Richards aggravated his groin during a scrimmage on Tuesday, but he doesn't think it's anything to worry about. "Everything felt better today than it did yesterday," he said Wednesday. "I didn't know coming into this morning whether I'd skate or not. It was a little more prudent not to. Hopefully tomorrow I'll skate if everything keeps going. If it's not quite right, I'm not going to push it right now." Coach John Tortorella said that Richards was being kept off the ice for precautionary reasons. It's currently unclear if he will suit up in Friday's exhibition game against the Devils though. We'll keep you posted on his status.

Brad Richards is hoping to mesh quickly his New York Rangers teammates and create a cohesive top line with depth behind it. "I have big expectations of that," Richards said. "That's something that's got to happen. I shouldn't say got to but it'd be great if it did and it would really help this team, give us that one line and then another line to back it right up. That's how you win in this league." Richards is expected to be paired with Marian Gaborik this year, but the other winger slot appears to be an open competition between Brandon Dubinsky, Wojtek Wolski, Ruslan Fedotenko and Derek Stepan.

It wouldn't be surprising if Brad Richards had a 'C' stitched on his jersey for the New York Rangers this season. The Blueshirts invested nine years into Richards this off-season and he is expected to be their top center and power-play quarterback. He has also been an alternate with Tampa Bay and Dallas. "I think those decisions will come about come camp," coach John Tortorella said. "We'll have our talks, we'll see." Ryan Callahan and Marc Staal are expected to be in the running for the team's captaincy as well.