(FRI) RANGERS DROP KINGS AT MSG 

OFFICIAL GAME REPORTS        GOALIES                                                      Game Summary                       LAK: J. Quick (L) NYR: H. Lundqvist (W)  Event Summary

–       HOME COOKING – The Rangers have earned at least one point in 12 of their last 13 home games, dating back to Oct. 26 vs. Arizona (11-1-1 record over the span). The Blueshirts have outscored their opponents, 52-29, over the last 13 home games. The Rangers have earned at least one point in 16 of 21 home games this season (13-5-3 record). New York leads the NHL in points (29) and is tied for the NHL lead in wins (13) at home in 2017-18.

–       WINNING WAYS – New York has earned a win in eight of its last 12 games (8-3-1 record), and the Rangers have outscored their opponents, 42-27, over the last 12 games. The Blueshirts have won 14 of their last 20 games (14-5-1 record) and 16 of their last 24 contests (16-7-1 record). In addition, the Rangers have earned at least one point in 19 of their last 26 games (16-7-3 record).

–       GOALS GALORE – The Rangers have registered at least three goals in 19 of the last 26 games, as well as four or more goals (including team goals awarded for a shootout win) in 16 of those contests (92 goals; 91 in regulation/overtime). The Blueshirts have tallied four or more goals in six of the last nine games (31 goals) and in seven of the last 11 contests (39 goals).

–       MAKING THE DIFFERENCE – The Rangers have posted a plus-11 goal differential this season, which is the best among all teams in the Metropolitan Division.

–       TWO GOOD – The Blueshirts have allowed two goals or fewer in eight of the last 13 games and in 10 of the last 16 games. The Rangers have allowed 47 goals (including team goals awarded for shootout victories) over their last 19 contests (2.47 goals against per game over the span).

–       THIRD PERIOD TALLIES – The Rangers recorded two goals in the third period of tonight’s game. The Blueshirts have registered 44 goals in the third period this season and lead the NHL in third-period goals in 2017-18.

–       RANGERS’ ELEVEN – Four Rangers have tallied 11 or more goals this season (Grabner, Buchnevich, Zibanejad, Kreider). The Blueshirts are one of five NHL teams that have four players who have registered 11 or more goals in 2017-18.

–       TEAM EFFORT – Four different Rangers recorded a goal and 10 different Rangers registered a point in tonight’s game.

–       POWER RANGERS – The Blueshirts were 1-for-3 (5:25) on the power play in tonight’s game. The Rangers have tallied at least one power play goal in 13 of 32 contests in 2017-18.

–       KILL ZONE – The Rangers were 1-for-1 (2:00) on the penalty kill in tonight’s game. New York has not allowed a power play goal in each of the last five games (13-for-13) and in six of its last seven contests (17-for-18; 94.4%). The Blueshirts have killed off 53 of their opponents’ last 60 power play opportunities (88.3% over the span). The Rangers have not allowed more than one power play goal in a game in 30 consecutive contests.

–       STAYING DISCIPLINED – The Rangers have only been assessed one penalty in tonight’s game. The Blueshirts have taken the sixth-fewest minor penalties in the NHL this season (103).

–       ON POINT – Ryan McDonagh and Kevin Shattenkirk each tallied an assist in tonight’s game, and each defenseman has registered at least 16 assists through the first 32 games of the 2017-18 season (McDonagh – 17; Shattenkirk – 16). The Rangers are one of two NHL teams that have two defensemen who have recorded at least 16 assists thus far this season (along with Los Angeles). Prior to this season, the last time the Rangers had two defensemen who recorded at least 16 assists through the first 32 games of a season was 1993-94 (Leetch – 25; Zubov – 23).

–       FIRST IN SCORE – New York recorded the first goal of the game for the 14th time this season. The Rangers have posted an 11-3-0 record when tallying the first goal of the game in 2017-18.

–       FINISHING THE JOB – The Rangers have posted an 11-0-0 record when leading entering the third period this season.

–       CLOSE CALL – Sixteen of the Rangers’ last 21 games, as well as 24 of their 32 games this season, have been decided by two or fewer goals.

–       HOT AT THE DOT – The Blueshirts won 26 of 49 faceoffs in tonight’s contest (53.1%), including 14 of 17 faceoffs in the second period (82.4%). The Rangers have won at least 50.0% of faceoffs in each of the last three games.

–       BLOCK PARTY – New York was credited with 25 blocked shots in tonight’s game and recorded 15 blocked shots in the first period. In addition, 15 of 18 skaters registered at least one blocked shot in the contest.

–       KING ME – The Rangers have earned at least one point in 11 of their last 14 games against Los Angeles, dating back to Dec. 17, 2008 (8-3-3 record over the span).

–       Rick Nash tallied the game-winning goal the third period, tied for the team-high with five shots on goal, and posted a plus-one rating. Nash is tied for the team lead in game-winning goals (two), is tied for second in even-strength goals (seven), and ranks fifth in goals (nine) this season. He has tallied a goal/point in two of the last three games (two goals), has registered four points (two goals, two assists) in the last four contests, and has recorded 16 points (eight goals, eight assists) in the last 21 games.

–       Henrik Lundqvist made 33 saves in the contest, including 10 or more saves in each period, to earn his 15th win of the season and the 420th win of his NHL career. Over his last 10 appearances, Lundqvist has posted a 7-2-0 record, along with a 2.15 GAA, a .933 SV%, and 1 SO. He has allowed two goals or fewer in nine of his last 14 appearances, posting a 9-4-0 record, along with a 2.30 GAA, a .931 SV%, and 1 SO over the span. Lundqvist has made at least 30 saves in six of his last 11 appearances and in 12 of his last 23 appearances. He has been selected as one of the game’s Three Stars in 13 of 27 appearances in 2017-18.

–       Chris Kreider registered his 100th career NHL goal, which was a power play goal and recorded four shots on goal. He is tied for the team lead in power play goals (five) and is tied for second on the team in goals (11) this season. Kreider has registered 10 points (six goals, four assists) in the last 12 games.

–       Kevin Hayes recorded a goal in tonight’s game. He has registered two goals/points in the last four games, and he is tied for second on the Rangers in even-strength goals this season (seven).

–       J.T. Miller tallied a goal, won eight of 15 faceoffs (53.3%), and posted a plus-two rating. Miller has recorded a point in six of the last eight games (two goals, four assists), and he is tied for second on the team in points this season (23).

–       Ryan McDonagh notched an assist, led all skaters with four takeaways, tied for the game-high with three blocked shots, and posted a plus-two rating while skating in a team-high 22:35 of ice time. As of the conclusion of tonight’s game, McDonagh ranks second among NHL defensemen in even strength assists this season (14). He has tallied five assists/points in seven games since returning to the Rangers’ lineup on Dec. 1, and he leads Blueshirts defensemen in assists in 2017-18 (17).

–       Kevin Shattenkirk tallied a power play assist. As of the conclusion of tonight’s game, Shattenkirk leads NHL defensemen in primary assists (11) and is tied for first among NHL defensemen in primary points (16) this season. In addition, he leads Rangers defensemen in points (21), power play assists (eight), and power play points (10) in 2017-18.

–       Michael Grabner notched an assist. Grabner has registered seven points (six goals, one assist) in the last nine games, and he is tied for second on the Rangers in even strength points in 2017-18 (18).

–       David Desharnais recorded a power play assist and won eight of 13 faceoffs (61.5%). He has registered an assist/point in each of the last two games (two assists) and has recorded seven points (one goal, six assists) in the last eight games.

–       Mats Zuccarello registered an assist, tied for the team-high with five shots on goal, and posted a plus-one rating. He has tallied a point in nine of the last 12 games (four goals, eight assists, plus-eight rating), and he has recorded 18 points (five goals, 13 assists) and a plus-13 rating in the last 20 contests. He leads the Rangers in assists (19) and points (26) this season.

–       Jimmy Vesey notched an assist and tied for the game-high with three hits. Vesey has registered eight points (four goals, four assists) in the last 16 games.

• Alain Vigneault, New York Rangers head coach

On Rick Nash…

“There is no doubt in the first period he had three great looks where unfortunately he wasn’t able to hit the net and bury it. But at the right time, he came up real big for us.”

More on Rick Nash…

“I know that at the end of the day those guys are supposed to score but there are other parts of the game that he was doing really well. In the first period, he had a big blocked shot. This is a 200-foot game and obviously, our offensive guys have got to put the pucks in the net but also have to play that full game.”

On tonight’s game…

“In the first period, they spent a lot of time in our end but they didn’t get a lot. In the second period, I thought we were better with our second guy getting in there (in the offensive zone). We were better on faceoffs. We went from 18 percent to 57 percent, so we started with the puck more. I thought we had a way better second period. Then in the third, it was a hard-fought game. They had one and then Nasher [Nash] was able to get that goal and that was huge for us.”                  

• John Stevens, Los Angeles Kings head coach

On tonight’s game…

“I thought we played well. I thought we had a good start to the game, we had good jump. Our fore-check was effective for us. We gave up a goal, a wrister from the point on the PK. We gave up a goal on a poor face-off coverage in the offensive zone. Late in the game, we should be in a position to get points. We played a lot better but unforced errors ended up costing us points.” 

On Marian Gaborik’s strong play tonight…

“That was a big goal to get us back in the game. Obviously, that second goal is another big one to get us back in the game again. That kind of production from him is expected. He’s been a big game player so it’s not surprising, but I thought he had good jump tonight.”

• Ryan McDonagh, New York Rangers defenseman 

On playing against Los Angeles…

“That’s a big team over there. They play the heavy style and mix in some good skating and skill. They are a team that likes to possess the puck so when there are those 50-50 battles, you have to try to come up with them the majority of the game to get something going offensively.  It was an emphasis early on and I thought as the game went on, we got even better and better at outnumbering them and not allowing them to get their cycle game going.”

On the importance of the win…

“It’s a team obviously we don’t see as often but there are a lot of familiar faces on there and they are a team playing really well. We knew it was going to be a challenge and those are the games that you get up for and you want to make sure you are prepared for as best as you can. You need contributions from a lot of guys, from the whole team tonight. We certainly got that. It was exciting to watch. It was good to see our power play get going again and our penalty killing was crucial at times too. It did the job defensively there when we got the lead.”

More on playing a heavier team like Los Angeles…

“I think we learned a good lesson. We spent a lot of time in our zone against Dallas. We look for trigger points to try to swarm and outnumber guys in the corner. I thought as this game progressed we did a lot better job of that and not allowing their cycle game and not getting pinned in our zone as much. Certainly, in that Dallas game we spent a lot of time in our zone and gave up a lot of shots so it was a point of emphasis before this and as the game continued I thought we got even better at that.”

• Rick Nash, New York Rangers forward 

On the intensity of tonight’s game…

“It was a real tight checking game. There wasn’t much room out there and it obviously came down to the last few minutes.”

On his goal…

“I tried last time. I had kind of the same play in the first period and I tried to go high glove and he [Johnathan Quick] kind of moved his chest right in front of it so I thought I had to switch it up and try to go blocker.”

On the importance of tonight’s game…

“They’re one of the best teams in the west and one of the best organizations in the last little bit here so it was a good test for us tonight. I thought we played pretty much as close as a full sixty as we have all season.”

• Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers goaltender

On how the game looked to him…

“I felt like we had moments where we created good chances, good energy. Then they turned it up and they’re a heavy team. They’re good at it, when they get going they use their D a lot, they crash the net hard, so it’s a pretty physical game for me to play in and try to find pucks. It was a battle. It was a fun game to play and a big win. Nasher (Nash) after a couple big chances in the first got the big one in the end, so it was great to see how he battled through this game. It is a really good team we played tonight.”

On the key to playing a team like L.A…

“The key is to work really well with the D. They boxed out guys really well. I tried to hold on to as many pucks as I could.  If I leave a rebound there they have two, three guys around the net waiting for it. The D did a really good job of boxing guys out and trying to help me see the puck. Most of the forwards made some big blocks. Zucc (Zuccarello) had a really big block in the second period. He gives us energy, when you have big plays like that at a crucial time of the game.”

• Drew Doughty, Los Angeles Kings defenseman 

On whether or not the pace of the game was what they expected…

“They’re a fast team and good offensively, that’s what we expected but like I said I think we deserve to win games, and we were winning the game at times. I wasn’t disappointed with our effort; everyone was working their bags off. We were executing well. It’s a frustrating loss but we have to move on because we have a quick turnaround tomorrow.”

On the overall performance of the team tonight…

“I thought we did play well and they were working. We were pretty solid defensively, we just had a few breakdowns, had odd man rushes they happened to score on them. Quick did make some big saves for us too, we had a lot of shots and a lot of opportunities, we just couldn’t find the net. We had a bunch that got tipped in front that hit Lundqvist. It’s a frustrating loss like I said but it’s over with.”

–       Morning Skate/Availability Schedule: The Rangers will not have a morning skate prior to tomorrow’s contest. Rangers Head Coach Alain Vigneault will be available to the media at 3:00 p.m.

–       Next Game: Tomorrow, Saturday, Dec. 16 at Boston (5:00 p.m. ET – TV: MSG+ 2)

*Schedule subject to change

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