It appears as if Nick Holden, who was a healthy scratch for the first two games of the season, will play tonight alongside Ryan McDonagh.  At least to begin with that is.  As the Rangers season has progressed, the defensive pairings could be measured in minutes rather than games.  

So far the Rangers have dressed eight blueliners with Steven Kampfer, Holden, Brendan Smith and Tony DeAngelo all rotating in and out of the line-up for the first four games.  Smith will return to the line-up tonight against Columbus, having been a healthy scratch the last two games.

As for McDonagh, they’ve tried Kevin Shattenkirk, Smith and Marc Staal along side him to begin the year, and Holden will mark the fourth combination tried so far this year.

Through four games, the Rangers have been outscored 15-10, though two of the goals were into empty nets.