FISH STICKS AGAIN? 

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In a game totally unlike it’s predecessor where goals were dropping faster than Long Island home values, Marc Staal scored at 4:33 of the second period and Brian Boyle potted an empty-netter with just over 2 seconds left and that was all the Blueshirts would need to sink their intra-state rivals Friday night 2-0 at Madison Square Garden.

Here are the Post game notes and quotes.NEW YORK RANGERS POST-GAME NOTES AND QUOTES

December 3, 2010 – New York Rangers 2, New York Islanders 0 (Game No. 28, Home No. 14)

Click Here For The Official Game Summary

• The Rangers defeated the New York Islanders, 2-0, tonight at Madison Square Garden to improve to 16-11-1 overall, including a 6-7-1 mark at home.  New York is now 6-2-0 in their last eight games, and is currently tied for third overall in the NHL with 16 wins and ranks sixth with 33 points.
• The Blueshirts swept the home-and-home set against the Islanders, marking the first time since the 2005-06 season that one of the two teams swept a back-to-back set against the other.  The Islanders won on Oct. 19, 2005 at MSG (3-2, OT) and on Oct. 20, 2005 at Nassau Coliseum (5-4).  The last time the Rangers swept a back-to-back set against the Islanders was on Mar. 28, 2001 at MSG (4-2) and Mar. 29, 2001 at Nassau Coliseum (6-4).
• The Rangers improved to 7-0-0 in the second game of back-to-back sets this season, and have out-scored their opponents, 20-6, in those contests.  The Blueshirts are 16-2-2 in the second game of back-to-backs over the last two seasons.
• Henrik Lundqvist turned aside all 17 shots he faced to post his fourth shutout of the season and 28th of his career, improving to 11-9-1 overall and 3-5-1 at home.  Lundqvist has now registered three career shutouts vs. the Islanders, and is 19-9-5 with a 2.12 goals against average in 34 career regular season appearances.
• Marc Staal opened the game’s scoring with a power play tally at 4:33 of the second period, and logged a game-high, 26:02 of ice time.  Staal has tallied five points (one goal, four assists) in the last six games.
• Brandon Dubinsky registered two assists to post his seventh multi-point performance of the season, and has now recorded four assists in the last four games.
• Derek Stepan tallied the primary assist on Staal’s power play, game-winning goal, and won seven of eight faceoffs (88%).  Entering tonight’s contest, Stepan was tied for third among NHL rookies in scoring with 15 points, and has now recorded 11 points (three goals, eight assists) in the last 12 games.
• Brian Boyle notched an empty net goal and was credited with a team-high, four hits.  He ranks second on the team and is currently tied for 15th in the NHL with a career-high, 11 goals on the season.
• Ryan Callahan recorded an assist on Boyle’s empty net goal and has now registered 19 points (eight goals, 11 assists) in his last 23 games, including four in the last five (three goals, one assist).
• The Blueshirts notched one goal in five power play opportunities (9:42), and have now registered a 22.2% success rate (6-27) in the last eight games.
• The Rangers’ penalty kill held the Islanders scoreless in tonight’s contest (2-2, 3:51), and have now yielded just four goals in their last 16 games (45-49, 91.8%).
• The Blueshirts’ practice schedule for tomorrow, Dec. 4, is 12:00 p.m. at the MSG Training Center.
• The Rangers will return to action on Sunday, Dec. 5, when they begin a home-and-home set against the Ottawa Senators at Madison Square Garden (5:00 p.m.).  The contest will be televised live on MSG Network, and can be heard on 1050 ESPN Radio or at MSG.com.

POST-GAME QUOTES

John Tortorella on tonight’s game… 

“It is important, especially tonight’s game.  It was such a grind.  It is totally different than last nights’ game.  I thought as the game went on, especially in the second period, we started taking control of it.  We didn’t develop a lot of offense but I thought we took control of it then.”

Henrik Lundqvist on tonight’s game…                              

“I think coming from last night where a lot of things happen we wanted to come back and have a solid performance defensively.  We did a lot of good things but we didn’t take a lot of chances.  I kind of knew this was going to be the game after what happened last night.”

Marc Staal on his goal…

“We had some good movement throughout the whole power play.  I think we tired them out.  I just dragged it and tried to get it by them and it ended up going in.” 

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