RANGERS FILIBUSTERED BY SENATORS 

      VERSUS     

NEW YORK RANGERS POST-GAME NOTES

October 29, 2011 (Game 9, Home Game 2)

Madison Square Garden – New York, New York

Team Notes:

–    The Rangers were defeated by the Ottawa Senators, 5-4, in the shootout today at Madison Square  Garden, and are now 3-4-2 on the season.

–    New York tallied two power play goals in four opportunities (7:00), and are now 5-19 (26.3%) with the man advantage in the last five games.  The two power play goals were notched in an 80-second span in the second period at 6:24 and 7:44, respectively.

–    The Rangers out-hit the Senators, 26-21, led by Brian Boyle’s game-high, four hits.  New York was also credited with 14 blocked shots, including a game-high, three blocked shots each from Dan Girardi, Ryan Callahan and Steve Eminger.

–    The Blueshirts won 34 of 62 face-off attempts for a 55% success rate.

Player Notes:

–    Brad Richards notched two goals, including one on the power play, added a power play assist and won a team-high 11 of 17 faceoff attempts (65%) in 22:45 of ice time.  His power play assist at 6:24 of the second period was his first point at Madison Square Garden as a Ranger, and his power play goal at 7:44 of the second was his first goal at Madison Square Garden as a Ranger.

–    Marian Gaborik registered one goal and two assists, including one on the power play, in 20:30 of    ice time.  He also registered four shots on goal and a plus-two rating.  Gaborik has recorded four points (one goal, three assists) in the last two games.

–    Ryan Callahan notched the Rangers’ first goal of the game with a power play tally at 6:24 of the second period.  He also led all forwards and tied for the team-high with three blocked shots, tied for the game-high with five shots on goal, and led all forwards with a season-high, 23:31 of ice time.  Callahan has registered two goals in the last three games, and now leads the team in shots on goal (37).

–    Wojtek Wolski tallied two assists, posted a plus-two rating & logged a season-high, 15:50 of ice time.

–    Michael Del Zotto recorded a power play assist to extend his scoring streak to three games, registering one goal and two assists (both on the power play) over the span.  He was also credited with three hits in a season-high, 24:29 of ice time.  Del Zotto extended his streak of posting a plus or even rating to nine games, and leads the team with a plus-five rating.

–    Derek Stepan tallied the primary assist on Gaborik’s even strength goal at 4:53 of the third period. He was also credited with 2 hits and 2 blocked shots, and won five of seven face-off attempts (71%).

–    Henrik Lundqvist turned aside 36 of 40 shots through regulation and overtime, and stopped one of two shootout attempts, and is now 2-4-2 on the season.  He has registered 30 or more saves in five of his last six games.

–    Dan Girardi led all skaters with a career-high, 33:14 of ice time, and was credited with three hits and three blocked shots.  He currently leads the league in average ice time (28:12), and ranks first on the team in blocked shots (22) and is tied for second in hits (20).

–    Ryan McDonagh was credited with three hits and logged a career-high, 28:57 of ice time.

–    Brian Boyle led all skaters with four hits, and is now two games shy of his 200th career NHL contest.

–    Steve Eminger was credited with a game-high-tying, three blocked shots, and now ranks second on the team with 18 blocked shots on the season.

Post-Game Quotes:

–    John Tortorella on today’s game…

      “I thought there were signs of a number of players beginning to play their game.  We played in spurts again – longer spurts than we have played.  I’m not dwelling on the bad stuff.  There was some bad stuff, obviously, that is something we have to continue to chip away at and stay with it here.”

–    Ryan Callahan on the power play…

      “I thought we moved the puck well.  We got the puck to the net, we scored off some rebounds.  We had guys moving in and out of spots and I think that’s when we are most successful – when we are moving without the puck and making passes and tonight it came up big for us.”

–    Henrik Lundqvist on momentum…

      “Hockey is a game where small things can make a big difference.  We got a lot of confidence  from our power play in the second and changed the momentum and the energy in the building. But it changed back a couple of times.  We talk about it all the time – when things are going good you try & ride that, but when things are going against you just try and settle things down.”

Transaction Update:

–    New York Rangers President and General Manager, Glen Sather, announced that forward Kris Newbury and defenseman Tim Erixon have been assigned to the Connecticut Whale of the American Hockey League (AHL).

Team Schedule:

–    The Blueshirts’ practice schedule for tomorrow, Oct. 30, is 11:00 a.m. at the MSG Training Center.