RANGERS AND BLUES PREVIEW 

     VERSUS     

NEW YORK RANGERS vs. ST. LOUIS BLUES
Sunday, Nov. 7, 7:00 p.m.
Madison Square Garden • New York, NY
Rangers: 7-5-1 (15 pts)
Blues: 7-1-2 (16 pts)
* All information through NHL games on Nov. 5

TOMORROW’S GAME:
The Rangers will face-off against the St. Louis Blues tomorrow, Nov. 7, at Madison Square Garden (7:00 p.m.), to begin a four-game homestand. The Blueshirts currently rank second in the Atlantic Division standings, and fifth in the Eastern Conference, with a record of 7-5-1 (15 pts). The Rangers enter tomorrow’s contest having defeated the New Jersey Devils, 3-0, on Friday at the Prudential Center, and are now 6-3-0 in their last nine contests. The Blues are currently 7-1-2 (16 pts) to rank fourth in the Western Conference entering their contest tonight at Boston, and have won each of their last five games. Following tomorrow’s game, the Rangers will continue their longest homestand of the season when they face-off against the Washington Capitals on Tuesday, Nov. 9, at Madison Square Garden (7:30 p.m.).

RANGERS PRACTICE SCHEDULE:
Prior to the game, the Rangers’ morning skate is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. at the MSG Training Center.
* Schedule and availability subject to change

BROADCAST INFORMATION:
* TV: MSG Network
   6:30 p.m. – Rangers Pre-Game Show with Al Trautwig
   7:00 p.m. – Rangers vs. Blues
   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 Bob Galerstein
   7:00 p.m. – Rangers vs. Blues
   Broadcasters: Don LaGreca (Play-By-Play), Dave Maloney (Analyst)

RANGERS vs. BLUES:
* All-Time: The Rangers are 74-38-16-0 all-time against the Blues: 45-11-6-0 at home and 29-27-10-0 on the road
* 2010-11: Tomorrow’s contest marks the first of two meetings between the Rangers and Blues this season, and their only meeting at Madison Square Garden
* Last Season: New York was 0-2-0 against St. Louis in 2009-10, including a 0-1-0 mark at home following a 4-3 loss to the Blues on Mar. 18 at MSG.
* New York ranks 22nd in the NHL at home with a record of 2-3-1 (5 pts) in six games; St. Louis has posted a record of 1-1-2 (4 pts) in four road games to rank 28th in the league
* The Rangers have posted a record of 1-0-0 vs. the Central Division; the Blues have registered a 2-0-0 mark vs. Atlantic Division opponents
* Henrik Lundqvist is 0-2-0 with a 3.05 goals against average in two career regular season appearances vs. St. Louis; Martin Biron has posted a record of 0-6-0-2 with a 2.70 goals against average in nine career regular season games against the Blues
* Marian Gaborik led the Rangers with three points (one goal, two assists) in two games vs. the Blues last season; Brian Boyle and Ryan Callahan each notched one goal in the season series against St. Louis
* Alex Frolov has registered 12 goals and nine assists for 21 points in 25 career regular season contests vs. St. Louis; Ruslan Fedotenko has recorded five goals in nine career games vs. the Blues
* New York lists no former Blues on their roster
* St. Louis lists no former Rangers on their roster

SPECIAL TEAMS: 
* Power Play: The Rangers tallied one goal vs. the Devils in four power play opportunities (10:26) on Friday at New Jersey, and are now 7-31 (22.6%) with the man advantage over the last eight games. New York ranks 14th in the NHL with a 18.0% (9-50) success rate, and ranks 17th at home with a 15.4% (4-26) 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 held the Devils scoreless in two shorthanded situations (3:49), and tallied one shorthanded goal on Friday at New Jersey. New York ranks 27th in the NHL with a 76.4% (42-55) success rate, and are 28th in the league at home with a 70.8% (17-24) success rate. The Rangers held the Maple Leafs scoreless in one, three-on-five situation (0:31) on Oct. 30 at Toronto, and are 4-6 on three-on-fives (5:08) 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 (2): 10/9 at BUF (Dubinsky); 11/5 at NJD (Dubinsky).
* Four-on-Four: New York did not tally/yield a goal in one, four-on-four situation (0:13) on Friday at New Jersey, and are now even in 10, four-on-four situations (11:57) this season. Four-on-four goals for (1): 10/18 vs. COL (Frolov). Four-on-four goals allowed (1): 10/15 vs. TOR (Kessel).

BUSY DAY AT MSG:
Entering the season, the Rangers and Knicks have played on the same day at the current Madison Square Garden on 34 occasions, with the Rangers posting a record of 14-14-6 and the Knicks registering a 21-13 mark in those games. The Rangers and Knicks are scheduled to play at MSG on the same day three times this season – Nov. 7 (NYR vs. STL, NYK vs. PHI), Nov. 14 (NYR vs. EDM, NYK vs. HOU) and Dec. 12 (NYR vs. WSH, NYK vs. DEN).

TEAM EFFORT:
The Rangers have had a different player credited with the game winning goal in each of their seven wins, giving New York the most players in the league with at least one game winner on the season.

BLOCK PARTY
The Blueshirts currently lead the NHL with 245 blocked shots on the season, averaging a league-high, 18.8 blocked shots per contest. Dan Girardi ranks first in the NHL with 44 blocked shots, and Ryan Callahan leads all NHL forwards with 20 blocked shots.

A BROADWAY HIT
The Rangers currently rank second in the NHL with 356 hits on the season, and rank second with an average of 27.4 hits per contest. Ryan Callahan leads the team and ranks fifth in the NHL with 45 hits, and Brian Boyle is tied for 19th in the league with 34 hits on the season.

THE HOT LIST:
* The Rangers have won six of their last nine games, posting a record of 6-3-0 during the stretch
* The Rangers have tallied seven power play goals in the last eight games, registering a 22.6% (7-31) success rate over the span
* Brandon Dubinsky enters tonight’s contest with a three-game goal streak (five goals over the span), and has registered 10 points (seven goals, three assists) in the last eight games
* Henrik Lundqvist is 5-2-0 in his last seven starts, registering a 1.87 goals against average, .937 save percentage and two shutouts over the span
* Artem Anisimov has tallied eight points (two goals, six assists) in the last nine games, including six assists in the last six
* Ryan Callahan has registered 11 points (four goals, seven assists) in his last eight games, including multiple points in four of his last six
* Michal Rozsival has registered six points (one goal, five assists) in the last nine games
* Michael Del Zotto has tallied two assists in the last three games

ALL-TIME RANGERS SHUTOUTS
Henrik Lundqvist posted his first shutout of the season with a 36-save performance on Oct. 30 at Toronto and, in the process, passed Mike Richter, Chuck Rayner and Lorne Worsley for fourth on the Rangers’ all-time regular season shutouts list with 25 career regular season shutouts.

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.

MILESTONES IN SIGHT:
* John Tortorella: 4 wins from 300 NHL career
* Artem Anisimov: 4 games from 100 NHL career
* Michael Del Zotto: 7 games from 100 NHL career
* Dan Girardi: 7 games from 300 NHL career

MILESTONES RECENTLY ACHIEVED:
* Michael Sauer: 1st career NHL assist/point (10/23 at BOS)
* Ryan Callahan: 100th career NHL point (10/23 at BOS)
* Evgeny Grachev: 1st career NHL game (10/29 vs. CAR)
* Sean Avery: 500th career NHL game (11/1 vs. CHI)

INJURIES:              
* Vinny Prospal (IR on Sept. 24/knee surgery on Oct. 18, 6-8 weeks) – 13
* Marian Gaborik (IR – separated shoulder on Oct. 15, 2-4 weeks) – 10
* Chris Drury (IR – fractured finger on Oct. 15, 6 weeks) – 10
* Ryan Callahan (injured on Nov. 4) – 1
Total Man-Games Lost: 39

RECENT TRANSACTIONS:
* Oct. 28: Recalled forward Evgeny Grachev from Hartford