RANGERS VS. DEVILS PREVIEW 

NEW YORK RANGERS vs. NEW JERSEY DEVILS
Sunday, Oct. 24, 7:00 p.m.
Madison Square Garden | New York, NY
Rangers: 3-2-1 (7 pts)
Devils: 2-5-1 (5 pts)
* All information through NHL games on Oct. 23

TONIGHT’S GAME:
The Rangers will face-off against their Atlantic Division rival, the New Jersey Devils, tonight at Madison Square Garden (7:00 p.m.), to close out their first of 18 back-to-back sets on the season. The Rangers enter tonight’s contest having defeated the Boston Bruins, 3-2, last night at TD Garden, and have now won each of their last two games to improve to 3-2-1 (7 pts) on the season. The Devils enter the contest with a 2-5-1 (5 pts) record, having lost to the Sabres, 6-1, last night at the Prudential Center. Following tonight’s contest, the Rangers return to action on Wednesday, Oct. 27, when they will face-off against the Atlanta Thrashers at Madison Square Garden (7:00 p.m.), in the second game of a three-game homestand.

BROADCAST INFORMATION:
*       TV: MSG Network
        6:30 p.m. – Rangers Pre-Game Show with Al Trautwig
        7:00 p.m. – Rangers vs. Devils
        Broadcasters: John Giannone (Play-By-Play), Joe Micheletti (Analyst), Al Trautwig (In-Game Reporter)
*       Radio: 1050 ESPN Radio
        6:30 p.m. – Rangers Pre-Game with Don LaGreca
        7:00 p.m. – Rangers vs. Devils
        Broadcasters: Don LaGreca (Play-By-Play), Dave Maloney (Analyst)

RANGERS vs. DEVILS:
*       All-Time: The Rangers are 94-80-27-5 all-time against the Devils: 52-28-20-2 at home and 42-52-7-3 on the road.
*       2010-11: This is the first of six meetings between the Rangers and Devils this season, and the first of three meetings at Madison Square Garden.
*       Last Season: New York was 3-2-1 against New Jersey in 2009-10, including a 1-1-1 mark at Madison Square Garden. Three of their six meetings were decided by one goal, including two that required the shootout.
*       Henrik Lundqvist posted a record of 3-2-1 with a 2.45 goals against average and one shutout in six contests vs. New Jersey last season, and is now 18-7-5 with a 1.92 goals against average and four shutouts in 30 career regular season games against the Devils
*       Michael Del Zotto led the Rangers with four assists and five points in six games vs. the Devils last season
*       Ruslan Fedotenko has notched seven goals and 12 points in 43 career regular season contests vs. New Jersey; Dan Girardi has recorded nine assists in 23 career regular season games vs. the Devils
*       New York lists no former Devils on their roster
*       New Jersey lists no former Rangers on their roster

SPECIAL TEAMS:                                                 
*       Power Play: The Rangers tallied one goal in six power play opportunities (10:14) last night at Boston, and now rank 20th in the NHL with a 12.0% (3-25) success rate. The Rangers did not convert on one five-on-three chance (0:30) on Oct. 9 at HSBC Arena,  and are now 0-1 on five-on-three attempts (0:30). New York is 0-1 (1:05) with a four-on-three advantage this season. Shorthanded goals allowed (0).
*       Penalty Killing: The Blueshirts surrendered one goal to the Bruins in six shorthanded situations (9:19) last night at Boston, and are now tied for 25th in the NHL with a 76.7% (23-30) success rate. The Rangers yielded one goal to Boston in two three-on-five situations (2:02) last night at TD Garden, and are 2-4 on three-on-fives (3:47) this season. The Blueshirts yielded one goal in three, three-on-four situations on Oct. 15, and are now 2-3 (1:10) in those situations this season. Shorthanded goals for (1): 10/9 at BUF (Dubinsky).
*       Four-on-Four: New York did not skate in a four-on-four situation last night at Boston, and are now even in seven, four-on-four situations (11:19) this season. Four-on-four goals for (1): 10/18 vs. COL (Frolov). Four-on-four goals allowed (1): 10/15 vs. TOR (Kessel).

BACK-TO-BACKS
Tonight’s contest will close out the Rangers’ first of 18 back-to-back sets this season. Last season, New York posted a record of 9-2-2 in the second game of back-to-back sets, including a 4-1-1 mark when the second game of the set was at MSG.

…SINCE 2007-08
The Rangers own a record of 13-5-2 vs. the Devils since the start of the 2007-08 season, including a 7-2-1 mark at MSG during the stretch, dating back to a 2-0 win on Oct. 25, 2007. Henrik Lundqvist, who has started in each of the Rangers’ last 25 meetings with the Devils, has registered a 2.24 goals against average, .921 save percentage and four shutouts in the 20-game stretch.

HEAD-TO-HEAD
Henrik Lundqvist has faced-off against Martin Brodeur in 26 career regular season contests, posting a record of 17-4-5 with a 1.75 goals against average, .937 save percentage and four shutouts over the span.

QUICK STRIKE
The Rangers have tallied back-to-back goals in 61 seconds or less of the first period in each of the last two games. On Thursday at Toronto, Ruslan Fedotenko opened the game’s scoring at 16:11 of the first period, followed by Artem Anisimov’s goal, the eventual game winner, 61 seconds later. Last night at Boston, Anisimov notched the game’s first goal on the power play at 11:34 of the first, before Alex Frolov gave the Rangers a two-goal lead just 27 seconds later at 12:01 of the opening frame.

RANGER MILESTONES
Rookie Derek Stepan (three goals) and Alex Frolov (one assist) both registered their first point as a Ranger in the 6-3 season-opening win on Oct. 9 at Buffalo. Three new Blueshirts tallied their first point as a Ranger in home opener on Oct. 15 vs. Toronto, with Ruslan Fedotenko, Derek Boogaard and Steve Eminger each recording one assist in the contest. In addition, Sean Avery registered two assists in the game to record his 100th point as a Ranger. On Monday vs. Colorado, Frolov notched his first goal as a Ranger with a four-on-four tally assisted by Stepan, who picked up his first career assist on the play. Fedotenko tallied his first goal as a Ranger to open the game’s scoring on Thursday at Toronto, and Martin Biron backstopped the Blueshirts to a 2-1 win in the contest with a 24-save performance to record his first win as a Ranger in his first appearance with the team.

YOUTH IS SERVED
Based on opening day rosters, the Rangers have the ninth youngest team in the NHL with an average age of 27 years and 44 days, and the second youngest defensive corp in the league, trailing only Los Angeles with an average age of 25 years and 51 days.

NEW FACES
The Rangers have had seven new players dress so far this season: Martin Biron, Derek Boogaard, Steve Eminger, Ruslan Fedotenko, Alex Frolov, and Derek Stepan each skated in the season opener on Oct. 9 at Buffalo. Todd White made his Rangers debut on Monday vs. Colorado at Madison Square Garden, and Biron saw his first game action with a 24-save effort in a 2-1 win on Thursday at Toronto.

GETTING STARTED:
*       Entering the season, the Rangers have posted a record of 276-266-90 all-time in the month of October, including a 175-114-47 mark at home and a 101-152-43 record on the road. New York is scheduled to play 10 games during the season’s opening month in 2010-11, with five games being contested at MSG and five scheduled on the road.
*       Legendary Rangers’ defenseman Brian Leetch holds the franchise record for most points in the month of October, having registered 43 goals and 130 assists for 173 career points in the season’s opening month.
*       The Blueshirts’ all-time leader for most career wins in the month of October is Mike Richter, who registered 40 career wins during the season’s opening month.
*       Last season, New York tied the franchise record for longest winning streak in the month of October, winning seven consecutive games from Oct. 3, 2009 vs. Ottawa to Oct. 17, 2009 at Toronto. The Rangers also won seven straight October games in 1988-89, beginning on Oct. 16 vs. Vancouver and ending on Oct. 30 vs. Pittsburgh. Their seven-game winning streak last season was also the team’s longest since they won seven straight from Feb. 1, 2006 vs. Pittsburgh to Mar. 2, 2006 at Philadelphia.

MILESTONES IN SIGHT:
*       None

MILESTONES RECENTLY ACHIEVED:
*       Derek Stepan: 1st career NHL game and 1st career NHL goal/point (10/9 at BUF)
*       Derek Stepan: 1st career NHL assist (10/18 vs. COL)
*       Michael Sauer: 1st career NHL assist/point (10/23 at BOS)
*       Ryan Callahan: 100th career NHL point (10/23 at BOS)

INJURIES:                                  
*       Vinny Prospal (IR on Sept. 24/knee surgery on Oct. 18, 6-8 weeks) – 6
*       Marian Gaborik (IR – separated shoulder on Oct. 15, 2-4 weeks) – 3
*       Chris Drury (IR – fractured finger on Oct. 15, 6 weeks) – 3
Total Man-Games Lost: 15

RECENT TRANSACTIONS:
*       Oct. 13: Assigned forward Tim Kennedy to Hartford
*       Oct. 24: Recalled forward Jeremy Williams from Hartford