HOBBIT’S OT WINNER MAKES HIM “LORD OF THE GARDEN” 

VERSUS

NEW YORK RANGERS POST-GAME NOTES AND QUOTES

January 5, 2011 – New York Rangers 2, Carolina Hurricanes 1 OT (Game No. 41, Home No. 20)

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• The Rangers defeated the Carolina Hurricanes, 2-1, in overtime tonight at Madison Square Garden to improve to 23-15-3 overall, including a 10-8-2 mark at home.  New York has registered a point in 18 of their last 26 games (16-8-2), and eight of their last 10 (6-2-2).
• The Blueshirts have now earned a point in nine of their last 12 games at MSG (8-3-1).
• Mats Zuccarello notched his first career goal, the overtime game-winner, at 3:09 of the extra frame, added an assist for his first NHL multi-point effort and posted a career-high, plus-two rating.  The last player whose first NHL goal was an overtime game-winner was Jamie McBain of Carolina on Mar. 20, 2010 vs. Pittsburgh. (courtesy of the Elias Sports Bureau)
• Henrik Lundqvist stopped 31 shots to capture first star honors, and improve to 17-12-3 including a 6-6-2 mark at home.  He is now 10-4-2 with a 1.78 goals against average, a .934 save percentage and three shutouts in his last 16 games.  Lundqvist also registered an assist on the overtime, game-winning goal, and has now recorded two assists on the season (seven career).  His two assists are tied for second among NHL goalies.
• Matt Gilroy opened the game’s scoring at 8:41 of the third period, and registered three shots on goal to capture second star honors.  He is now tied for second among Rangers’ defensemen with three goals.  Gilroy has tallied four points (three goals, one assist) in his last five games, and has posted a plus-10 rating in his last 16 contests.
• Brandon Dubinsky registered his 11th multi-point effort of the season with two assists, including the primary assist on Zuccarello’s overtime game-winner, recorded four shots on goal and led all team forwards with 22:09 of ice time.  He now leads the team with 18 assists on the season, and has tallied 14 points (four goals, 10 assists) in the last 14 contests with seven points (two goals, five assists) in the last six.
• Marc Staal led all skaters with 30:10 of ice time, and was credited with four hits (tied team-high).  Staal now averages 25:14 of ice time per game, ranking ninth in the league.
• Dan Girardi was credited with a game-high, four blocked shots in 29:18 of ice time to increase his NHL-leading total to 118.
• The Blueshirts’ practice schedule for tomorrow, Jan. 6, is 1:30 p.m. (local time) at the Dr. Pepper Star Center in Farmers Branch, Texas.
• The Rangers will return to action when they face-off against the Dallas Stars on Friday, Jan. 7, at American Airlines Center (8:30 p.m.), to begin a back-to-back road set.  The game will be televised live on MSG Plus and can be heard on 970 The Apple and www.newyorkrangers.com.

POST-GAME QUOTES

John Tortorella on tonight’s game…

“I think we get a little bit of our personality back and the style of play we wanted to play.  I thought Ward was outstanding.  The good thing about our club is that we didn’t get frustrated, we didn’t force the issue and played the style we wanted to play.”

Henrik Lundqvist on tonight’s game…

“It was a fun game to play… a lot of action on both ends.  Smart decisions on both ends.  It is important in a low scoring game to not give the puck away and we didn’t.  Tonight we played a very smart game.”

Brandon Dubinsky on tonight’s game…

“It is huge.  We wanted to come out and play the way we are capable of.  I thought we did that.  We found a way.  Matty Gilroy got a huge goal.  It is good for our team.”

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