RANGERS GET GIANT WIN – THEY SUPER BOWL OVER FLYERS 

    VERSUS    

NEW YORK RANGERS POST-GAME NOTES
February 5, 2012 (Game 50, Home Game 23)
Madison Square Garden — New York, NY

                                                      1st   2nd   3rd   OT   Final
Philadelphia Flyers        0      1            1           –        2
New York Rangers          1      1            3           –       5

Team Notes:

–        The Rangers defeated the Philadelphia Flyers, 5-2, today at Madison Square Garden for their fourth win in five games, and are now 16-4-1 in their last 21 games.

–        New York has posted a record of 33-12-5 (71 pts) on the season, including a 16-5-2 mark at home.  The Rangers have registered at least one point in 33 of their last 42 games (30-9-3), dating back to Oct. 29, after beginning the season with a 3-3-2 mark.

–        The Rangers’ .710 win% through 50 games is the team’s best start in 40 years, when the 1971-72 Blueshirts began the season with a 32-10-8 record (.720 win%), and is the second best start in franchise history.

–        The Blueshirts extended their winning streak against the Flyers to six games, dating back to a 7-0 win at MSG on Mar. 6, 2011. The Rangers have out-scored the Flyers, 24-8, during the streak.  New York improved to 4-0-0 against Philadelphia this season.

–        With the win, New York completed a sweep of their season series against Philadelphia at Madison Square Garden, out-scoring Philadelphia, 11-4, in three games.  According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the last time the Rangers swept their home series against the Flyers was during the 1991-92 season, when the Blueshirts posted a 4-0-0 mark against Philadelphia at Madison Square Garden.

–        The Rangers have posted a 9-3-0 record in their last 12 home games. The Blueshirts’ 16-5-2 (34 pts) mark at MSG is their best start at home through 23 games since 1995-96 (17-2-4, 38 pts).

–        The Rangers improved to 10-2-1 against Atlantic Division opponents this season, having out-scored their opponent, 42-27, in divisional play.

–        The Blueshirts maintained their three-point lead over Boston for first in the Eastern Conference, and are now within one point of Detroit for first in the league overall.  The Rangers hold one game in hand over Boston, and have three games in hand over Detroit.

–        11 different Rangers tallied at least one point in the contest, including five different goal-scorers.

–        The Rangers were credited with 25 blocked shots in the contest, including four players who registered four or more blocked shots.

–        New York out-shot Philadelphia, 38-23, in the contest, including a 14-5 advantage after the first period.  The Rangers improved their league-best record to 17-4-0 (.810 win%) when out-shooting their opponent.

Player Notes:

–       Henrik Lundqvist made 21 saves to improve to 24-10-4 overall, including a 12-5-2 mark at home this season.  Brayden Schenn’s goal at 12:02 of the second period was the first goal Lundqvist had allowed since 19:11 of the second period on Jan. 21 at Boston, and ended his career-high shutout streak at 182:33.  It was the 26th time this season Lundqvist has held opponents to two or fewer goals.

–       Artem Anisimov opened the game’s scoring at 1:04 of the first period, and added two assists for a season-high, three points, and posted a plus-three rating in the contest.  The Rangers improved to 12-2-2 when he registers a point this season.  Anisimov is now three points shy of 100 career NHL points.

–        Marian Gaborik notched a goal, tallied the primary assist on the game-winning goal, posted a plus-three rating and tied his season-high with a game-high, eight shots on goal to earn first star honors.  He has now tallied nine points (three goals, six assists) in the last eight games.

–        Derek Stepan tallied two assists, four shots on goal and posted a plus-three rating in 16:43 of ice time.  He has recorded 21 points (six goals, 15 assists) in the last 29 games, and has posted a plus-10 rating in the last nine games.

–        Brandon Dubinsky notched a goal and was assessed a fighting major in 15:42 of ice time to earn third star honors.  The Rangers improved to 13-2-2 when he records a point.

–        Michael Del Zotto registered the game-winning goal at 1:33 of the third period, was credited with four hits and four shots on goal, and posted a plus-two rating in 23:24 of ice time.  He has tallied 20 points (five goals, 15 assists) in the last 31 games, including three points (two goals, one assist) in the last four games.

–        Ruslan Fedotenko tallied an empty net goal with 1:16 remaining in regulation to clinch the victory, and registered three shots on goal in 15:13 of ice time.  The Rangers improved to 10-1-1 when he records a point.  Fedotenko has now registered a team-high, 16 goals along with 27 points in 41 career regular season games against the Flyers.

–        Brian Boyle recorded the primary assist on Dubinsky’s third period goal, was credited with a game-high, five hits, tied for the game-high with five blocked shots and won a game-high, 13 face-offs in 22 attempts (59%).  He has now tallied three points (one goal, two assists) in the last four games.  The Rangers improved to 12-0-1 when he registers a point.

–        Dan Girardi, Brandon Prust, Brad Richards and Carl Hagelin each recorded an assist in the contest.  Girardi also posted a plus-two rating, and was credited with two hits and two blocked shots in 25:28 of ice time.  Prust was credited with three hits and was assessed a fighting major in 12:15 of ice time.

–        Ryan Callahan tied for the game-high with five blocked shots, was credited with three hits, registered four shots on goal and led all forwards with 22:36 of ice time.

–        Ryan McDonagh was credited with four blocked shots, posted a plus-three rating and logged a game-high, 26:57 of ice time.

Post-Game Quotes:

–       Head Coach John Tortorella on the physical play…

“I think that’s a big part of our game.  That’s the way we have to play, and when another team joins in, it mounts.  Everybody gets involved in it.  We are sum of parts, that’s how we play and that’s the only way we can win when everyone jumps in all areas like that.”

–       Marian Gaborik on playing the Flyers…

“I think we know how important these games are. We come with a lot of energy and stick with our system. We have played very well against them this year and this game was one of them. Even though we took a lot of penalties, we shouldn’t do it against this team because they have a good power play, but Hank (Henrik Lundqvist) was strong in net and it was a big win.”

–       Brandon Dubinsky on the importance of today’s game…

“We have been neck and neck with those guys all year long. Every game we’ve played against them has been physical, a playoff type atmosphere and we knew it was going to be like that today. It’s just one of those unspoken things, we know that each guy is focused and is going to be ready to play and that’s the sign of a great team is being ready to step up and play against a challenging opponent. It’s always fun games against those guys.”

–       Henrik Lundqvist on the atmosphere today at MSG…

“It’s a great feeling, the fans were ready to go and everybody was excited to play Philly again. Every time it’s a big battle and so far we’ve been successful against them and we’ve just been working really hard.”

Team Schedule:

–        The Rangers will return to action when they face-off against the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday, Feb. 7, at Madison Square Garden (7:00 p.m.), in the second game of their three-game homestand.  The game will be televised live on MSG Network and can be heard on 1050 ESPN Radio.