"Not that Michael Del Zotto welcomed the flu he contracted last week that would have prevented him from playing against the Lightning on Thursday, but the defenseman admitted it was just as well he didn't have to find out if he would have been scratched from that game, regardless of his health. But Del Zotto, healthy and back at practice yesterday with his teammates following the NHL's two-day Christmas moratorium, had no such luck (?) this time, as coach John Tortorella announced the 20-year-old sophomore would be scratched in favor of Matt Gilroy for tonight's match at the Garden against the Islanders. "Nothing is given to you on this team," Del Zotto, previously a healthy scratch in Ottawa on Dec. 9, told The Post. "The coaches expect the most of you and if you're not performing, consequences follow." Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/rangers/scratch_ticket_RZdAcAz76MbgjULa47FTFN
