ST. LOUIS BLUE AFTER RANGERS WIN 

VERSUS

NEW YORK RANGERS POST-GAME NOTES
January 8, 2011 – NY Rangers 2, St. Louis Blues 1 (Game No. 43, Away No. 23)

* The Rangers defeated the St. Louis Blues, 2-1, tonight at Scottrade Center to improve to 25-15-3 overall, including a league leading 15 wins on the road (15-7-1).  New York is 8-2-2 in their last 12 games, and has registered a point in 20 of their last 28 games (18-8-2).  The Rangers are 10 games over .500 for the first time since April 12, 2009 (43-30-9).

* The Blueshirts are now 10-1-0 (4-0-0 at home, 6-1- 0 on the road) in the second game of back-to-back sets this season, having out-scored their opponent, 33-13, in those games. Over the last two seasons, New York is 19-3-2 in the back-end of back-to-back sets, including an 11-2-1 mark on the road over the span.

* New York’s penalty kill held St. Louis scoreless in six power play opportunities (10:49), and are now 85-97 (87.6%) over the last 31 games.

* Martin Biron stopped 24 of 25 shots to improve to 7-3-0 overall, including a 3-1-0 mark on the road.  He is now 6-2-0 with a 2.23 goals against average and .926 save percentage in his last 10 games, and has posted a record of 14-5-2 in his last 22 starts, including a 7-2-2 mark in his final 11 starts last season dating back to a 4-3 win on Feb. 9, 2010 vs. Nashville.  Biron has held opponents to two or fewer goals in seven of his 11 starts this season.

* Sean Avery notched the game-winning goal at 15:26 of the second period, and was credited with three hits and four shots on goal.  New York is now 115-71-30 in 216 games with him in the lineup since originally being acquired on Feb. 5, 2007.

* Brandon Dubinsky tallied two assists to increase his team-leading total to 20 on the season.  He has registered 16 points (four goals, 12 assists) in the last 17 contests, including nine points (two goals, seven assists) in the last eight.  Dubinsky is now two assists shy of 100 career assists.

* Derek Stepan notched the Rangers’ first goal at 9:12 of the second period, and logged 17:16 of ice time.  Stepan entered tonight’s contest tied for third among NHL rookies in scoring with 23 points and 11 goals.

* Marian Gaborik recorded the primary assist on the game-winning goal, and tied for the game-high with six shots on goal to capture second star honors.  He has now recorded 21 points (11 goals, 10 assists) in his last 25 games.

* Mats Zuccarello registered the primary assist on Stepan’s second period goal, and has now tallied four points (one goal, three assists) in the last seven games.
* After an off-day tomorrow, the Blueshirts’ next practice is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 10, at the MSG Training Center.

* The Rangers will return to action when they face-off against the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday, Jan. 11, at Madison Square Garden (7:00 p.m.), in an Original Six match-up.  The game will be televised live on MSG Network and can be heard on 1050 ESPN Radio and www.newyorkrangers.com.

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