New York Rangers 5, Detroit Red Wings 1 (Pre-Season: Game No. 4, Home No. 2)
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The Rangers defeated the Red Wings, 5-1, at Madison Square Garden to improve to 3-1-0 in pre-season action, including a 2-0-0 mark at home. New York tallied three goals in the game’s opening period, the most the team has tallied in a period this pre-season.
- The Blueshirts notched one power play goal in five attempts (7:10), and are now seven-for-21 (33.3%) with the man advantage through four pre-season games.
- Henrik Lundqvist turned aside 35 of 36 shots to improve to 2-0-0 in pre-season action. Lundqvist has stopped 60 of 65 shots faced through two games, registering a 2.48 goals against average and a .928 save percentage over the span.
- Marian Gaborik opened the game’s scoring one minute into the contest with his team-leading third power play goal of the pre-season. Gaborik, who led the Rangers with 42 goals and 86 points last season, also added his first assist of the pre-season, and has now recorded four points (three goals and one assist) in three games.
- Sean Avery notched the game-winning goal at 4:39 of the first period, and recorded a plus-two rating in the contest. He finished the home-and-home set against Detroit with two goals.
- Forward Ruslan Fedotenko tallied the primary assist on the game-winning goal, and finished the contest with two assists and a plus-two rating. Fedotenko is now tied for the team lead with four assists and five points in three pre-season games.
- Rookie center Derek Stepan registered two points (one goal and one assist) and a plus-two rating in the contest, and has now recorded three points (one goal and two assists) in three pre-season appearances. Last season, Stepan established career-highs with 12 goals, 42 assists and 54 points while skating in 41 games with the University of Wisconsin Badgers of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA).
- Defenseman Michael Del Zotto notched an even strength goal at 7:34 of the third period, and registered a team-high, four shots on goal in 22:16 of ice time. He is now tied for the team-lead with five points (two goals and three assists) in two games. Del Zotto also registered a plus-two rating and three hits in the contest.
- Michael Sauer tallied his first goal of the pre-season at 19:01 of the first period, and blocked a game-high, four shots in 19:49 of ice time.
- Rangers’ forwards Alex Frolov and Erik Christensen each recorded an assist in the game. Frolov tallied the only assist on Del Zotto’s third period goal, and he is now tied for the team-lead with four assists and five points. Christensen registered the primary assist on Sauer’s first period goal, and finished the contest with a plus-two rating and won a team-high, eight face-offs in 12 attempts (67%).
- New York defensemen Michal Rozsival and Pavel Valentenko each tallied one assist in the contest. Rozsival registered the only assist on Gaborik’s power play goal at 1:00 of the first period, and logged a game-high, 23:26 of ice time. Valentenko assisted on Stepan’s third period goal, and recorded a plus-two rating and tied for the game-high with four hits.
- Matt Gilroy led all skaters with a plus-three rating and logged 18:18 of ice time. As a rookie last season, Gilroy registered a season-high, plus-two rating on October 2 at Pittsburgh and October 12 vs. Toronto.
- The Blueshirts’ practice schedule for tomorrow, September 30, is 11:00 a.m. at the MSG Training Center.
- The Ranges will return to action on Friday, October 1, when they will face-off against the Ottawa Senators at Madison Square Garden (7:00 p.m.), in the first game of their home-and-home set. The contest will be televised live on MSG.
POST-GAME QUOTES
John Tortorella on the young defensemen…
“Gilly (Matt Gilroy) has tried to be more aggressive. As I have said the past couple of days, that is a point of contention for us as far as defending harder. He is trying, he is trying. Michael (Del Zotto), I thought, made some good plays tonight…stayed within himself. Not always looking for the long pass but made some good stretch plays. And then (Mike) Sauer, again, like I said, I don’t want to get ahead of myself, I want to watch tape but I know Mike played within himself which he has done all camp and that is why he is still here. We just keep on banging away, practice tomorrow and see where it all falls. We play a good team against Ottawa the next couple of nights and then make some decisions.”
Henrik Lundqvist on tonight’s game…
“It was a great team game. For me personally it felt pretty good to face a lot of shots. We did a good job to force them into a lot of shots. As a goalie it is a lot easier.”
Derek Stepan on the roster situation…
“It’s a tough situation, you don’t want to over think stuff. You don’t want to get yourself over-involved and your mind confused. You just want to play and whatever happens, happens.”
