RANGERS LEAVE GARDEN WITH THE BLUES AFTER 3-1 LOSS 

 Game Summary                            STL: C. Hutton (W)   NYR: H. Lundqvist (L)         Event Summary

–       FOUR SCORE – For the second time in franchise history, a Ranger has registered a goal in each of the team’s first four games of a season (Rick Nash – 2014-15; Mika Zibanejad – 2017-18).

–       WHAT A LINE – The Chris Kreider-Mika Zibanejad-Pavel Buchnevich line has registered 11 points (five goals, six assists) thus far this season, and at least one of the three players has notched a point on seven of the team’s 10 goals in 2017-18.

–       POWER SURGE – New York was 1-for-4 (6:38) on the power play in tonight’s contest. The Rangers have registered at least one power-play goal in three of the first four games of the 2017-18 season (5-for-16; 31.3%). The Blueshirts have tallied at least five power-play goals in their first four games of a season for the first time since 2005-06 (six).

–       SHOOTING GALLERY – The Rangers registered 33 shots on goal in tonight’s game, and 15 of 18 skaters recorded at least one shot on goal. The Blueshirts have recorded 30 or more shots on goal in three of four games thus far in 2017-18.

–       HOT AT THE DOT – New York won 32 of 58 faceoffs in tonight’s game (55.2%). The Rangers have won at least 50.0% of faceoffs taken in three of four games this season.

–       HITTING MACHINE – The Blueshirts were credited with 34 hits in tonight’s contest, and five different Rangers registered at least four hits.

–       FULL HOUSE – Tonight’s game was the Rangers’ 276th consecutive sellout (229 regular season games, 47 playoff games over the span). The Blueshirts’ sellout streak dates back to November 3, 2011.

–       Mika Zibanejad registered a power-play goal and led all skaters with five shots on goal and 15 faceoff wins (15-for-25; 60.0%) in 20:32 of ice time. Zibanejad extended his goal/point streak to four games (five goals over the span), and his four-game goal streak is a career-high. Zibanejad is the second Ranger in franchise history who has registered a goal in each of the first four games of a season (Rick Nash – 2014-15). As of the conclusion of tonight’s game, Zibanejad leads the NHL in power play goals (four), is tied for the NHL lead in power-play points (four), and is tied for second in the NHL in goals (five) this season. He also leads the Rangers in goals and is tied for the team lead in points (five) thus far in 2017-18.

–       Kevin Shattenkirk recorded a power play assist, tied for the game-high with two takeaways, and registered two shots on goal in 22:46 of ice time. Shattenkirk has registered a point in three of his first four games of the season, tallying four points (one goal, three assists) in those contests. He has recorded all of his four points thus far in 2017-18 on the power play, and as of the conclusion of tonight’s game, he is tied for the NHL lead in power play assists and power play points this season.

–       Pavel Buchnevich tallied a power play assist and recorded two shots on goal while skating in a single-game career-high 19:20 of ice time. Buchnevich has registered an assist/point in each of the last two games (two assists) and in three of four games in 2017-18 (three assists). In addition, he has recorded at least one point in 19 of 45 career NHL games (eight goals, 15 assists).

–       Henrik Lundqvist made 20 saves in tonight’s contest and stopped all 15 shots he faced over the final two periods of the contest. Lundqvist has allowed two goals over the last two games and has stopped 54 of 56 shots he has faced in those two contests (.964 SV%).

–       Adam Cracknell led all skaters with six hits and registered two shots on goal in 8:01 of ice time while making his Rangers debut in tonight’s contest.

–       David Desharnais won all five faceoffs he took in tonight’s contest, and he has won 23 of 36 faceoffs he has taken through four games in 2017-18 (63.9%).

–       Tomorrow (Wed, Oct. 11): Practice, 12:00 p.m. at MSG Training Center
–       Thursday, Oct. 12: Practice, 12:00 p.m. at MSG Training Center
–       Next Game: Fri, Oct. 13 at Columbus (7:00 p.m. ET – TV: MSG Network)

• Alain Vigneault, New York Rangers head coach

On tonight’s game…

“The start tonight is a turnover right off the hop and the puck ends up in the back of our net. There’s no doubt that in the first two periods we didn’t generate a lot. Yes, they were good defensively but in the third, I thought we brought a lot more energy and more willpower. We spent a lot more time in their end and we finally got some pretty good looks but we weren’t able to score.”

On what needs to be done going forward…

“There’s definitely a lot of room for improvement and I think every one of our players and every coach on our staff will tell you the same thing. You have to take it one day at a time and keep improving our game. The areas of improvement are pretty simple and that’s what we will get back to work on tomorrow.”

On the team’s line combinations…

“Mika’s [Zibanejad] line is generating quite a few chances – in the third anyway – and after the initial power play, they were a little ordinary. The other two lines right now, we are looking for a little bit more chemistry to create a little bit more. We’re going to work on that tomorrow.”                 

• Mike Yeo, St. Louis Blues head coach 

On teams play during tough road trip…

“Given the schedule here, three games in four days, less than four days really, I thought the guys battled really hard. There were some moments and some times where the fatigue showed up, especially in our execution. Some uncharacteristic turnovers, but the guys really battled hard and I thought Hutch (Hutton) did a great job.”

On Carter Hutton’s play, especially his two big stops in the third period…

“That was a key moment in the game. His first game of the regular season, the guys want to play well in front of him and dig in defensively. Again, I thought there were some times when fatigue started to kick in, and we weren’t really moving our feet, and we started to turn some pucks over, and when that happened he was there. But for the most part, most of the night we were pretty solid in our game.”

• Ryan McDonagh, New York Rangers defenseman

On how St. Louis eliminated the team’s scoring chances…

“We just started out slow again. It took us a while. It took us a whole period basically to start moving our legs and getting engaged and that was the difference. We started to get some looks and get some offensive zone time, especially there in the third. Again, that’s on myself, the other leaders, and the other guys in here. We’ve got to find a way to get this group going right from the start, understand the importance of a good first shift and keeping it simple. Certainly, it’s the worst when you give up a goal right in the first 20 seconds, but we’ve got to find a way to really bear down and get engaged right from the start.”

On giving up a goal in the opening seconds of the game…

“I don’t know if it does anything for us, but for them certainly it gives them life. They played last night. We knew that we wanted to try and expose that, make them defend, and make it a hard night for them. But it didn’t happen until the middle of the second there when we started to put some pressure on them finally. Everyone’s really got to take a long look at what they’re doing to prepare here and understand you know one play can be the difference there and it certainly was.”

On the level of frustration after tonight’s loss…

“It’s frustrating. We’re trying to put together a full game here and we haven’t done that very much at all in any game. It’s getting to a handful of games now where we need to start finding that right from the start. We’re getting some looks there in the third, and they’re not going in. You can’t get frustrated. You’ve got to stick with what’s working and understand the importance of the little plays leading up to those and try to do those consistently throughout the game and get yourself more opportunities.”

• Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers goaltender

On what giving up a goal so early in the game means for a goaltender’s play…

“It just means that it’s a game where you have to be strong mentally.  I think I played a pretty solid game, made a lot of good saves, but it’s not the start you’re looking for.  We talked about it in the room here, how important it is that first shift to set the tone.  It’s tougher for everyone when you put yourself behind a goal like that.  They’re a good team.  We did not get a lot of open chances right in front.  We had to work really hard to get in front of their net and that’s where they’re a really good team in this league.  They play hard and whatever you get you have to earn it by working extremely hard.  After the first couple minutes, I think we settled down and played a pretty strong game.  It’s just that you probably need a little extra to get in front there and create the big chances to try to score against this team.”

On Schenn’s goal…

“Honestly, I don’t know how that found the net there.  It was obviously frustrating to see it go in. It was just a quick play from the boards.  I don’t know if he banged it in off my skate and up from that angle, it was just tough to see. But I think after that we regrouped.  As a team and personally, I think we played a strong game.  It was just not enough in the end.  We had some really good looks especially in the third to tie it up.  They made some big saves in the end, but with some luck here we could have easily tied the game.  Now we have a few days to regroup a little bit and we have a big one, the next one, we need to get a win here.” 

On whether there is urgency for the team already…

“We lost a few games here.  It’s important that we get the urgency and realize how important the next game is and the game after that.  You have to see it as a big game every night.  It’s going to be a tight race this year and if you want to be in it when it comes down to it, you have to ready now even though it’s October.  So we are going to have to go to work in the next few days to make sure we play our best game in Columbus.”

• Rick Nash, New York Rangers forward

On the starts to the games…

“I don’t think there are any changes in the room. I think in past years we were just simple. You look at the plays we try to make early on, they are kind of complicated plays and we end up turning over the puck. I think if we can all get on the same page and play north-south early on, just chip it in and get that fore-check going, we won’t have so many turnovers at our blue line.”

On the effort in the third period…

“He [Carter Hutton] made some good saves. I think 5-on-5 we have to find some more scoring chances, get to the inside a bit more. They’ve got a big team and a big defense that do a pretty good job of boxing out in front. I think 5-on-5 we have to do a better job of getting some scoring chances.”

On if there is any concern to the team’s start this season…

“It’s a tough question to answer. There has to be [some concern]. With all these home games early on, these are the games when you get to March and April that really mean something. I think that there’s definitely an urgency to fix this and start winning some games.”

• Carter Hutton, St. Louis Blues goaltender

On his success against the Rangers…

“We worked hard and played well.  They’re a pretty dangerous team.  Every time you face them you know they’re going to get their chances.  I thought tonight we settled in and our penalty kill was huge after we let up the first one.  We played solid and it was a great game.  After we went up 2-1, I thought Hank (Lundqvist) made a lot of big saves and kept the game tight but we were able to hang on.” 

On whether there is pressure to keep the win streak going…

“Yes, but I always put pressure on myself either way, even if we had been 0-3.  That is my job.  I play a lot of the back-to-backs on the road.  I am pretty comfortable in my career playing in a different and tough building.  I thought the guys did a great job in front of me.”

• Brayden Schenn, St. Louis Blues forward

On his goal…

“First of all, I saw Stas (Stastny) coming across the middle there and was able to – I don’t know if his shot got deflected – but it came out the end board really fast. I saw Lundqvist kind of off his post and sometimes guys bank them in and that’s what I tried for.  I banked it and I didn’t even know it went in until I saw Tarasenko put his arms up in the air.  So I’ll definitely take goals like that.” 

On the team’s injuries…

“It’s no secret we’re missing top players on our team and whether its veteran players or goalies or whomever, guys are stepping up each night and that’s what makes a good team.  The guys are doing that so far.  We’re 4-0 and we’ll take it.  We have two tough games in Florida.  Good start to the season so far though.”

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