HAGELIN GAINING STEAM IN RANGERS WIN 

     VERSUS    

NEW YORK RANGERS POST-GAME NOTES

November 26, 2011 (Game 20, Home Game 8)

Madison Square Garden – New York, New York

Team Notes:

–        The Rangers defeated the Philadelphia Flyers, 2-0, today at Madison Square Garden to extend their home winning streak to six games, and have now won their last two contests overall.

–        New York improved to 12-5-3 (27 pts) on the season, including a 6-1-1 record at home.

–        The Blueshirts have out-scored their opponents, 22-7, during their current six-game home winning streak, having held the opposition to one goal or less in four of the six games.  The Rangers are 5-29 (17.2%) on the power play during the home winning streak, while surrendering just one goal against in 15 shorthanded situations (93.3%) over the span.

–        The Rangers’ 6-1-1 start through eight games at Madison Square Garden is their best start at home since they posted a record of 6-1-1 through eight home games to begin the 1992-93 season.  New York began that season with a 7-1-1 mark though nine games at MSG.

–        The Rangers have won their last three games against the Flyers, out-scoring Philadelphia, 12-2, in those contests.  New York has now shutout Philadelphia in each of their last two meetings at Madison Square Garden.

–        With today’s win, New York completed a sweep of their back-to-back set, having defeated Washington, 6-3, yesterday at Verizon Center.  The Rangers improved to 2-0-1 in the second game of back-to-backs, including a 2-0-0 mark when the game is played at home.  Since 2009-10, New York is 23-8-3 in the back-end of back-to-back sets, including an 11-3-1 mark at MSG.

–        The Rangers improved to 7-0-1 when leading after the second period, and are 11-1-0 when tallying the game’s first goal.  Their 11 wins when scoring first are the most in the NHL, while their .917 winning percentage ranks second.

–        The Blueshirts out-shot the Flyers in the contest, 32-29, and remain the only team in the NHL who are undefeated when out-shooting their opponent (6-0-0).

–        New York now leads the league in goals against average, allowing just 2.05 goals against per contest, and have surrendered the fewest total goals on the season (41).

–        The Rangers are now four wins shy of 2,500 wins, having won 2,496 games all-time in franchise history.

Player Notes:

–        Henrik Lundqvist turned aside all 29 shots he faced to post his second shutout of the season, and improve to 9-4-3 on the season with a 4-1-1 mark at home.  The shutout was his 40th career overall, with 37 coming in the regular season and three during the playoffs.  He has now started on consecutive days 56 times in his career, and improved to 35-14-7 with a 1.82 goals against average, .935 save percentage and six shutouts in the second game.  Lundqvist is 7-1-0 with a 1.74 goals against average, .942 save percentage and one shutout during the month of November.

–        Brad Richards opened the game’s scoring with a power play goal 0:54 into the second period, and logged 20:56 of ice time to earn second star honors.  He has registered 11 points (seven goals, four assists) in the last 12 games, including six points (four goals, two assists) in the last six.  Richards is now tied for second on the team with eight goals on the season.

–        Carl Hagelin notched his first career NHL goal with an even strength tally at 5:06 of the third period while making his Madison Square Garden debut.  Hagelin, who recorded an assist in his NHL debut yesterday at Washington, also registered three shots on goal in 10:55 of ice time.

–        Michael Del Zotto tallied a power play assist, led the team with four shots on goal, and was credited with four blocked shots and a game-high, five hits, in 21:27 of ice time.  He now ranks second on the team in power play assists (four) and is tied for third in power play points (four) on the season.

–        Dan Girardi recorded the primary assist on Richards’ power play goal, and was credited with two hits and two blocked shots in a team-high, 27:26 of ice time.  He has registered 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in the last 14 games, including three assists in the last two, and is now five assists shy of 100 NHL career.  Girardi leads the team in power play assists (five) and power play points (six).

–        Ryan McDonagh tallied the primary assist on Hagelin’s third period goal and led all skaters with a career-high, six blocked shots in 24:39 of ice time.  He has now registered an assist in each of the last three games, and has recorded five assists and a plus-11 rating in the last nine games.

–        John Mitchell registered an assist in 11:51 of ice time while making his Madison Square Garden debut as a Ranger, and completed the Blueshirts’ back-to-back set with two assists following his recall from Connecticut (AHL) on Thursday.

–        Brandon Prust, who captured third star honors, was assessed two fighting majors in the first period, including one 0:04 into the contest.  The Rangers are now 9-2-0 when Prust is assessed a fighting major in the game’s opening five minutes since he joined the team on February 2, 2010.

Post-Game Quotes:                                                      

–        John Tortorella on Carl Hagelin…

“You always get that juice when you come (up from Hartford).  I think Ken Gernander and that group down there with the minor league team deserves a lot of credit because he’s not only fast, but he’s playing smart also. Both him and Mitch [John Mitchell], they’ve added to us right away these first two games.”

–        Henrik Lundqvist on today’s game…

“I think we played with a lot of confidence and we made it really tough for them to create chances. They had a couple in the first and in the second, I feel like we really shut them down. We did a really good job and I think we carried over the confidence from last night.”

–        Carl Hagelin on his first career goal…

“To be able to do that here, at MSG is pretty amazing. There’s such a great crowd here and they really love their team. They’re probably the best fans in the world.”

Team Schedule:

–        The Blueshirts have a scheduled off day tomorrow.  The Rangers’ next practice is scheduled for Monday, November 28, at 11:00 a.m. at the MSG Training Center.

The Rangers will return to action when they face-off against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday, November 29, at Madison Square Garden (7:30 p.m.), in an Atlantic Division matchup.  The game will be televised live on MSG Network and can be heard on 1050 ESPN Radio.