PLAYOFFS COULD BE BRUIN 

NY RANGERS vs. BOSTON BRUINS
Monday, Apr. 4, 7:30 p.m.
Madison Square Garden • New York, NY
Rangers: 42-32-5 (89 pts)
Bruins: 44-23-11 (99 pts)
* All information through NHL games on Apr. 2

TOMORROW’S GAME:
The Rangers will face-off against the Boston Bruins in an Original Six match-up tomorrow, Apr. 4, at Madison Square Garden (7:30 p.m.), in the second game of a back-to-back set. The Blueshirts currently rank third in the Atlantic Division standings, and eighth in the Eastern Conference, with a record of 42-32-5 (89 pts). The Rangers enter tomorrow’s contest having defeated the Philadelphia Flyers, 3-2, in a shootout yesterday at Wells Fargo Center, and are now 9-3-1 in their last 13 contests. The Bruins enter the contest with a 44-23-11 (99 pts) record to rank third in the Eastern Conference, and have registered at least one point in six of their last seven games (5-1-1). Following tomorrow’s contest, the Rangers will face-off against the Atlanta Thrashers on Thursday, Apr. 7, at Madison Square Garden (7:00 p.m.), in the second game of a three-game homestand to close out the regular season.

BROADCAST INFORMATION:
*       TV: Versus
7:30 p.m. – Rangers vs. Bruins
*       Radio: 1050 ESPN Radio and www.newyorkrangers.com
7:00 p.m. – Rangers Pre-Game Show
7:30 p.m. – Rangers vs. Bruins
Broadcasters: Kenny Albert (Play-By-Play), Dave Maloney (Analyst)

RANGERS vs. BRUINS:
*       All-Time: 243-281-97-2 overall (140-118-55-0 at home, 103-163-42-2 on the road)
*       2010-11: Tonight is the fourth and final meeting this season, and the second at Madison Square Garden. The Rangers own a 2-1-0 record thus far, with a 0-1-0 mark at MSG. Each meeting has been decided by one goal.
*       Last Season: New York was 3-1-0 overall with a 2-0-0 mark at home. Three of their four meetings were decided by one goal.
*       New York ranks 24th in the league with an 18-16-4 (40 pts) mark at home; Boston ranks fourth in the league with a 24-10-5 (53 pts) mark on the road
*       The Rangers are 10-7-2 vs. Northeast Division opponents; the Bruins are 11-4-2 vs. Atlantic Division opponents
*       Henrik Lundqvist is 15-5-2 with a 1.43 GAA, a .950 Sv% and five shutouts in 22 career regular season appearances vs. Boston; Chad Johnson has yet to face the Bruins
*       Bryan McCabe leads the Rangers with 30 assists, 38 points and 23 power play points (seven goals, 16 assists) in 70 career regular season contests vs. Boston
*       New York lists no former Bruins on their roster
*       Boston lists one former Ranger on their roster: Marc Savard (1997-98 – 1998-99)

SPECIAL TEAMS:
The Blueshirts have posted a plus-13 rating on special teams (PPG+SHG minus PPGA+SHGA) this season, which is tied for fourth in the league.
*       Power Play: The Rangers tallied one goal in three power play opportunities (5:06) yesterday at Philadelphia, and are now 14-64 (21.9%) in their last 18 games. New York ranks 15th overall (49-282, 17.4%) and 11th at home (28-143, 19.6%). The Rangers are 5-15 (12:41) in five-on-three situations (last – 4/3 at PHI), and 0-7 (8:42) when four-on-three (last – 4/3 at PHI). Shorthanded goals allowed (5): 11/20 at MIN (Cullen); 12/5 vs. OTT (Kelly); 1/2 at FLA (Weiss); 1/16 vs. PHI (Richards); 3/20 at PIT (Kunitz).
*       Penalty Killing: The Blueshirts held the Flyers scoreless in four shorthanded situations (8:00) yesterday at Philadelphia. New York is tied for 11th overall (212-254, 83.5%) and ranks 16th at home (95-115, 82.6%). The Rangers are 7-10 (7:21) in three-on-five situations (last – 2/27 vs. TBL), and 4-6 (2:41) when three-on-four (last – 11/15 at PIT). Shorthanded goals for (11): 10/9 at BUF (Dubinsky); 11/5 at NJD (Dubinsky); 11/15 at PIT (Staal); 11/24 at TBL (Boyle); 11/26 at FLA (Prust); 12/5 vs. OTT (Prust); 12/12 vs. WSH (Staal); 12/16 vs. PHX (Prust); 1/7 at DAL (Fedotenko); 2/27 vs. TBL (Prust); 3/15 vs. NYI (Prust).
*       Four-on-Four: New York yielded one goal in two four-on-four situations (6:54) yesterday at Philadelphia, and are now plus-three in 64, four-on-four situations (130:25). The Rangers are even in one, three-on-three situation (2:00) this season (2/17 vs. LAK). Four-on-four goals for (7): 10/18 vs. COL (Frolov); 11/11 vs. BUF (Anisimov); 11/15 at PIT (Callahan); 12/12 vs. WSH (Callahan); 1/5 vs. CAR (Zuccarello); 3/4 at OTT (Stepan); 3/6 vs. PHI (Zuccarello). Four-on-four goals allowed (4): 10/15 vs. TOR (Kessel); 1/1 at TBL (Thompson); 3/15 vs. NYI (Moulson); 4/3 at PHI (Zherdev).

ORIGINAL SIX SINCE 2005-06:
New York has posted a record of 45-25-12 (102 pts) against Original Six opponents since the 2005-06 season, including a 16-5-2 mark vs. Boston over the span. The Rangers’ .622 winning percentage ranks third, trailing Detroit (.695, 38-15-6) and Montreal (.627, 66-37-11), and ahead of Toronto (.513, 50-47-18), Boston (.504, 51-50-18) and Chicago (.476, 26-29-7).

BACK-TO-BACKS:
The Rangers will conclude their 18th and final back-to-back set tomorrow vs. Boston. New York is 10-7-1 (3-2-0 at home, 7-5-1 on the road) in the first game of back-to-backs. The Blueshirts are 11-6-0 (4-2-0 at home, 7-4-0 on the road) in the second game this season, having out-scored their opponent, 45-32, in those games. Over the last two seasons, New York is 20-8-2 in the back-end of back-to-back sets, including an 8-3-1 mark at MSG and 12-5-1 on the road over the span.

CLOSING TIME:
The Blueshirts are the only team in the NHL who are undefeated when leading after two periods, posting a record of 28-0-0 in those contests. The Rangers rank fourth in the league with a plus-19 goal differential in the third period (81 goals for, 62 goals against).

PLACE IN HISTORY:
*       The Rangers’ 42 wins are tied for eighth most in franchise history, one win shy of moving into a tie for seventh
*       The Blueshirts’ plus-13 rating on special teams is tied for 15th in team history
*       Henrik Lundqvist’s 34 wins rank ninth in Rangers’ history, one win shy of moving into a tie for seventh

THE PUCK STOPS HERE:
Henrik Lundqvist was named the NHL’s Third Star of the Week for the period ending Mar. 27 after posting a 2-0-1 record, 0.32 GAA, .987 Sv% and two shutouts in three games. On Mar. 26, Lundqvist stopped 26 shots in a 1-0 victory at Boston to establish a new career-high with his league leading, 11th shutout of the season, while appearing in his 400th career game. His 11 shutouts are tied for second in team history for most shutouts in a season, and are the most by a Ranger since John Ross Roach posted 13 shutouts in 1928-29. He is now one of two active goaltenders with at least two seasons of 10+ shutouts (M. Brodeur – 4). Lundqvist also posted his 30th win of the season on Mar. 18 vs. Montreal to extend his NHL record by recording 30 or more wins in six consecutive seasons to begin his career, and extend his franchise record by posting his sixth straight 30-win season. Lundqvist established a new career-high by appearing in his 22nd consecutive contest (dating back to Feb. 11) on Thursday at Long Island. Lundqvist has appeared in 23 straight games entering tonight’s contest.

40 WINS:
New York won its 40th game of the season with a 1-0 victory vs. Florida on Mar. 22. It is the fifth time in the last six years the Rangers posted 40 or more wins in a season, marking only the second time in franchise history the team accomplished the feat (1968-69 – 1973-74). The Blueshirts are one of five Eastern Conference teams to have registered at least five seasons of 40+ wins since 2005-06 (Montreal, New Jersey, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh).

STRONG RETURNS:
Rangers forwards Ryan Callahan and Vinny Prospal rank first and second on the team in scoring, respectively, since returning from injury in early February. Callahan leads the team with 13 goals and 23 points in 27 games since returning from injury on Feb. 1 vs. Pittsburgh, following a 19-game hiatus due to a broken hand suffered on Dec. 15 at Pittsburgh. Prospal leads the team with 13 assists and ranks second with 19 points in 26 games since he made his season debut on Feb. 3 vs. New Jersey after missing the first 53 games of the season with a knee injury.

COMPARED TO LAST SEASON:
The Rangers have posted six more wins and seven more points compared to last season through 79 games (36-33-10, 82 points in 2009-10), having tallied 11 more goals (223 this season, 212 last season) while allowing 22 fewer goals against (190 this season, 212 last season).  New York has also shown a six-goal improvement while shorthanded compared to 2009-10 (11 this season, five last season).

AMONG THE LEAGUE LEADERS:
The Rangers lead the league in hits (2,237), rank second with number of players with at least one GWG (18), fourth in blocked shots (1,258), fifth in goals against (190), are tied for first in shootout wins (nine), fourth in shorthanded goals (11) and road wins (24), and fifth with a plus-33 goal differential.

THE HOT LIST:
*       Vinny Prospal has tallied 16 points (four goals, 12 assists) in the last 18 games
*       Henrik Lundqvist is 9-3-1 with a 1.97 GAA, .935 Sv% and three shutouts in the last 13 games
*       Marc Staal has tallied five assists in his last seven games

INJURIES:
*       Derek Boogaard (shoulder, 12/9) – 49
*       Alex Frolov (knee, 1/8) – 36
*       Chris Drury (knee, 2/4) – 25
*       Martin Biron (fractured collarbone, 2/28) – 15
Total Man-Games Lost: 314

RECENT TRANSACTIONS:
*       Apr. 1 – Assigned forward Mats Zuccarello to Connecticut (AHL)