BIG THIRD LEADS RANGERS PAST PENGUINS 

VERSUS  

NEW YORK RANGERS POST-GAME NOTES
March 20, 2011 – New York Rangers 5, Pittsburgh Penguins 2 (Game No. 73, Away No. 37)

*       The Rangers defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins, 5-2, today at CONSOL Energy Center to improve to 39-30-4 overall, including a 22-14-1 mark on the road.  The Blueshirts have won a season-high, four straight games, and are 6-1-0 in their last seven contests.

*       The Blueshirts erased a one-goal deficit mid-way through the third period with back-to-back goals in a span of 11 seconds to take the lead.

*       New York won each of their three contests at Pittsburgh this season, out-scoring the Penguins, 12-5, in those games.  It is the first time the Blueshirts swept the season-series in Pittsburgh since 1996-97 (2-0-0), and the first time since 1973-74 that a Rangers team won three games at Pittsburgh in the same season.

*       Tonight marked the 14th time this season the Rangers notched five or more goals in a game, including each of their last three contests and four of their last six.

*       Henrik Lundqvist made 38 saves to extend his winning streak to four games, and improve to 31-24-4 overall with an 18-11-1 mark on the road.  It is the fourth time this season Lundqvist has faced 40 or more shots, having posted a 3-1-0 record with a 1.51 goals against average, a .964 save percentage and one shutout in those contests.  He is 6-1-0 in the last seven games, and now leads the league with 18 road wins.

*       The Rangers tallied one power play goal in three attempts (7:00), and are 12-45 (26.7%) with the man advantage in their last 12 games.

*       Ryan Callahan notched the game-winning goal at 9:39 of the third period, added two assists and was credited with six hits in 20:52 of ice time.  The goal was his team-high, 23rd of the season, marking a new career-high for the fifth-year forward.  He leads the Rangers in scoring with 13 goals and 23 points (13 goals, 10 assists) in 21 games since returning from injury on Feb. 1, including 21 points (11 goals, 10 assists) in the last 16 contests.

*       Brandon Dubinsky recorded two assists, including one on the power play, added an empty net goal and won a game-high, 11 faceoffs in 17 attempts (65%).  He has tallied seven points (two goals, five assists) in the last six games, and has won 38-55 faceoffs (69%) in the last three games.

*       Artem Anisimov opened the game’s scoring at 11:20 of the first period, and added an assist to post his 10th multi-point performance of the season and second in as many games.  It is the second straight game Anisimov tallied the first goal of the contest in the first period.  The first period goal was his 40th point of the season, marking the first time in his career he has reached that mark.  Anisimov has recorded nine points (four goals, five assists) in the last seven games.

*       Marian Gaborik tallied a power play goal at 9:28 of the third period to tie the score at two, and extend his scoring streak to five games (five goals, one assist over the span).

*       Vinny Prospal recorded one power play assist to extend his scoring streak to a Rangers’ season-high, nine games (two goals, nine assists over the span), and has tallied 14 points (three goals, 11 assists) in the last 12 contests.  He leads the team with 12 assists and ranks second in scoring with 17 points (five goals, 12 assists) in 20 games since returning from injury on Feb. 3.  Prospal’s nine-game point streak is the longest by a Ranger since Scott Gomez  posted a 13-game scoring streak from Dec. 6, 2007 vs. Toronto to Jan. 2, 2008 at Calgary.  The nine-game scoring streak is also the longest by Prospal since he registered a 13-game point streak from Oct. 26, 2005 at New Jersey to Nov. 20, 2005 at Carolina.

*       Derek Stepan notched one goal at 18:45 of the third period and logged 18:22 of ice time.  The goal was his 40th point of the season, marking the first time a Ranger reached the 40-point plateau as a rookie since Brandon Dubinsky registered 40 points (14 goals, 26 assists) in 82 games during the 2007-08 season.

*       Erik Christensen recorded the primary assist on Callahan’s game-winning goal to extend his scoring streak to four games (two goals, four assists over the span), and has now registered at least one point in seven of his last nine games (five goals, seven assists).  It is the second consecutive game Christensen has tallied the primary assist on the game-winning goal.

*       Mats Zuccarello also registered an assist on Callahan’s game-winning goal to extend his assist streak to three games (three assists over the span), and has now recorded six points (three goals, three assists) in the last seven games.

*       Ryan McDonagh tallied one assist and posted a plus-two rating in the contest.  He has registered three assists and a plus-nine rating in his last six games.

*       The Rangers out-hit the Penguins, 39-24, in the contest, led by Steve Eminger’s season-high, eight hits, and six hits each from Ruslan Fedotenko and Ryan Callahan.  Entering the game, the Rangers led the NHL in hits with 2,045, and Pittsburgh ranked third with 1,965.

*       The Blueshirts’ practice schedule for tomorrow, Mar. 21, is 11:00 a.m. at the MSG Training Center.

*       The Rangers will return to action when they face-off against the Florida Panthers on Tuesday, Mar. 22, at Madison Square Garden (7:00 p.m.), in the first game of a two-game homestand.  The game will be televised live on MSG Network and can be heard on 1050 ESPN Radio and www.newyorkrangers.com.

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