During the Rangers morning skate, Derek Stepan and Martin St. Louis sat out due to the flu. Both are questionable for tonight’s key home match versus the Coyotes.

The club recalled J.T. Miller just in case either can’t go. Miller continues to excel with the Wolf Pack posting 12 goals and 25 assists with a plus-13 rating in just 35 games. Despite 30 fewer games than leading scorer Oscar Lindberg (16-24-40), he ranks second in team scoring with 37 points. Danny Kristo has 36 including a team best 20 goals while Jesper Fast has 30 and forgotten prospect Ryan Bourque has 29.

Unless it’s really bad, I have to figure both Stepan and St. Louis will play. As much flak as I give Stepan, he’s been one of the team’s best performers putting up 11 points over the last 10 games with goals in three straight including the power play empty netter against Jersey. Similar to last year, he’s performed better in the second half taking the team scoring lead with 50 points (15-35-50). For all my gripes about him not shooting enough, Stepan remains the team’s number one center who is dependable defensively and a key penalty killer. He made several strong defensive plays in the 2-0 win over the Devils.

You know St. Louis doesn’t want to miss tonight. Given how much he’s struggling to finish, the former Hart winner wants to be a difference maker. The chemistry he has with Mats Zuccarello remains cohesive enough to think that at any moment, St. Louis will snap out of it. He nearly set up Zuccarello Saturday if not for a great sliding pad save from Martin Brodeur. He’s due for a breakout. Maybe it comes tonight or against the red hot Flyers Wednesday.

Alain Vigneault indicated that Raphael Diaz will shift to the left side for tonight. He’ll again team with Kevin Klein on the third pair. For his first game, Diaz was solid in 25 shifts (16:20) under a coach who trusted him. Diaz played power play where his calm presence helped move the puck better than we’ve seen recently. He also blocked two shots and was sound defensively. A solid skater, he was a good addition by Glen Sather. An obvious upgrade over Justin Falk. Especially with John Moore remaining out a second straight game with concussion symptoms. Too bad for Moore, who’d played some of his best hockey. At least they have a good replacement.

I’d imagine Daniel Carcillo will remain in to play his two former teams. Don’t forget he played for Phoenix before going to Philadelphia and then Chicago and Los Angeles. He remains a solid energizer whose energy has rubbed off on Brian Boyle and Dominic Moore supplying Vigneault with a dependable fourth line. They were effective against the Devils able to establish a forecheck and defend well enough. That’s one of the differences with this team compared to past ones. Vigneault can roll four lines.