B R O A D W A Y***B L U E S H I R T S

Team Notes:
- The Rangers defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning, 4-1, tonight at Madison Square Garden, to complete their season series against the Lightning.

- The Blueshirts improved to 9-8-2 (20 pts) overall, including a 7-4-1 mark at home this season.

- The Rangers swept the season series against the Lightning (3-0-0), having out-scored Tampa Bay, 12-4, in three games.

- The Rangers have registered a point in 16 of their last 19 games against the Lightning (12-3-4 over the span), dating back to a 2-1 win at Tampa Bay on Oct. 4, 2008.

- The Rangers improved to 19-4-2 in their last 25 games against Southeast Division opponents, including a 4-1-0 mark against the Southeast Division this season. The Blueshirts have out-scored their Southeast Division opponents, 84-51, over the span.

- The Rangers held the Lightning scoreless in three power play attempts against (6:00), and are now 27-29 (93.1%) on the penalty kill in the last 10 games.

- The Blueshirts out-shot the Lightning, 42-25, including a 20-3 advantage in the first period. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the last time the Rangers had a 17-shot advantage in a period was on Jan. 9, 2010, when New York out-shot Boston, 21-3, in the second period. The Rangers’ 42 shots tied their season high.

- The Rangers won 38 of 57 faceoffs (67%), led by Brad Richards (17-20, 85%) and Derek Stepan (11-17, 65%).

Player Notes:
- Henrik Lundqvist made 24 saves and is now 8-7-1 overall, including a 6-4-0 mark at home this season. He has held opponents to two goals or less in nine of his last 13 games, posting a record of 7-5-1 with a 1.99 goals against average and .927 save percentage over the span. Lundqvist has now started 29 of the Rangers’ last 31 contests against Tampa Bay, posting a record of 16-7-6 during the stretch.

- Rick Nash notched a goal, added a power play assist and registered a career-high, 12 shots on goal in 19:15 of ice time, while making his return to the lineup after missing the previous four games due to injury. He has tallied an assist/point in each of his last five games (two goals, five assists over the span).

- Carl Hagelin opened the game’s scoring with an even strength goal at 7:23 of the first period, and registered five shots on goal in 17:29 of ice time. He has now tallied nine points (six goals, three assists) in the last nine games.

- Derek Stepan notched a goal and won 11-17 faceoffs (65%) in 19:39 of ice time. He now has points in five of the last eight games (three goals, two assists over the span).

- Marc Staal registered a power play goal and logged a game-high, 26:40 of ice time. He has now recorded eight points (one goal, seven assists) in the last 12 games, including three points (one goal, two assists) in the last four contests.

- Ryan McDonagh tallied two assists and logged 25:34 of ice time, in his return to the lineup after missing the previous game due to injury. He has now registered seven points (two goals, five assists) in his last nine games.

- Ryan Callahan recorded an assist and was credited with two hits in 23:14 of ice time. He has now registered three points (two goals, one assist) in the last four games.

- Dan Girardi registered an assist and was credited with a team-high, three blocked shots in 21:22 of ice time. He has now tallied six points (one goal, five assists) in the last nine games, including an assist in each of the last two contests.

- J.T. Miller tallied a power play assist and registered four shots on goal in 12:33 of ice time. He has now recorded two assists in the last four games.

- Brad Richards recorded one assist, three shots on goal, and won 17-20 faceoffs (85%) in 21:36 of ice time. He has now tallied two assists and won 28-37 faceoffs (75.7%) in the last two games.

Post-Game Quotes:
- John Tortorella on Ryan Callahan…
“You talk about Ryan Callahan; you call him a grinder or a banger. He gets overlooked as far as his offensive abilities and his talents because the other stuff sticks out, but that’s always in his game. That’s why he’s our captain and leads us in how we need to play.”

- Rick Nash on tonight’s game…
“We have to get streaky. I think if we just build momentum off of tonight and carry it into the next one, we were doing a lot of good things so I think we’ll be fine.”

- Carl Hagelin on Rick Nash’s return…
“When you get a guy like that back everyone wants to bring their level up to where he is which is tough - he is one of the best players in the league. You can see how he brings size, and how the other team really respects him, and starts playing tentative around him.”

Richards had an Oscar winning performance on the ice there.

The Rangers defeated the Buffalo Sabres, 3-2, in the shootout tonight at Madison Square Garden, to improve to 2-1-0 on their current four-game homestand.
- The Blueshirts are now 10-8-2 (22 pts) overall, including an 8-4-1 mark at home this season.

- The Rangers and Sabres have been separated by one goal in nine of their last 13 meetings, including five that required overtime (two in the shootout).

- The Rangers held the Sabres scoreless in five power play attempts against (9:28), and are now 32-34 (94.1%) on the penalty kill in the last 11 games. New York improved to 6-3-1 when holding opponents scoreless on the power play.

- The Blueshirts tallied two goals in four power play attempts (7:33), and have now recorded a power play goal in five of the last eight games (6-27, 22.2% over the span).

Player Notes:
- Rick Nash tallied the game-deciding goal in the shootout, and registered a power play goal and power play assist in 21:29 of ice time. He has now recorded a point in each of his last six games (three goals, six assists over the span).

- Derek Stepan notched a power play goal and won 16-27 faceoffs (59%) in 24:28 of ice time. He has now tallied a point in six of the last nine games (four goals, two assists over the span).

- Henrik Lundqvist made 28 saves through regulation/overtime and stopped 2-2 shots faced in the shootout to improve to 9-7-1 overall, including a 7-4-0 mark at home this season. He has held opponents to two goals or less in 10 of his last 14 games, posting a record of 8-5-1 with a 1.98 goals against average and .927 save percentage over the span.

- Marian Gaborik recorded two power play assists in 18:00 of ice time. He has now registered three assists in the last three games.

- Michael Del Zotto tallied a power play assist and was credited with two blocked shots in 19:29 of ice time. He is now tied for second on the team with three power play assists this season.

- Ryan Callahan converted his shootout attempt to improve to 3-3 in shootouts this season, was credited with a team-high, six hits, and led all forwards with 26:04 of ice time.

- Dan Girardi was credited with a game-high, five blocked shots and logged 27:13 of ice time.

Post-Game Quotes:
- John Tortorella on the Patrick Kaleta hit…
“I’m glad we made them pay. It’s disgusting. It’s a lack of respect. Each team wants to beat the other team, but you have to respect what’s going on, on the ice.”

- Rick Nash on tonight’s game…
“It’s a big win. I think we can come out a bit sharper. There wasn’t much there at the start. They played a good road period for the first two (periods). I’m proud of the guys, they stuck with it and we got a big win.”

- Derek Stepan on the penalty kill…
“Special teams is a big part of the game, especially tonight. Our PK’s been better and better as the year has gone on. It stepped up tonight for sure.”

Bathgate66 wrote:

igotid88 wrote:

I thought they weren't going to take advantage of that hit to Richards

A Kaleta suspension is in order,..,
but then again its a Ranger ......
so they may likely turn the other cheek like they did with Pacioretty.

He'll probably get a $500 fine

it was dirty. No more dirty than Girardi's... but Ennis decided for some reason not to lay on the ice and writhe around for 5 minutes.

As far as what Staal said, id like to see him fight Kaleta. Kaleta does drop the gloves and does very well. A lot better than Staal. He also gets decent minutes, and kills penalties. The Richards incident was on the PK. Kaleta a few years ago was just an agitator who played goon minutes and just hit everything he could. He actually has some versatility now.

MayDay10 wrote:

it was dirty. No more dirty than Girardi's... but Ennis decided for some reason not to lay on the ice and writhe around for 5 minutes.

As far as what Staal said, id like to see him fight Kaleta. Kaleta does drop the gloves and does very well. A lot better than Staal. He also gets decent minutes, and kills penalties. The Richards incident was on the PK. Kaleta a few years ago was just an agitator who played goon minutes and just hit everything he could. He actually has some versatility now.

once a goon, always a goon.