(SAT) RANGERS STRUGGLE WITH TORONTO UPRISING 

OFFICIAL GAME REPORTS    GOALIES
Game Summary                                 TOR: F. Andersen (W)  NYR: H. Lundqvist (L)
Event Summary

–       HOT AT THE DOT – The Blueshirts established single-game season-highs in faceoff wins (48) and faceoff win percentage (65.8%; 48-for-73) in tonight’s contest. The Rangers’ 48 faceoff wins in tonight’s game are tied for the fourth-most the team has recorded in one game since the NHL began tracking faceoffs in 1997-98. New York won at least 48 faceoffs in one game for the first time since Feb. 6, 2003 at St. Louis. The Rangers have posted a faceoff win percentage of 50.0% or better in six of the last seven games.

–       THIRD PERIOD TALLIES – The Rangers registered one goal in the third period of tonight’s game. As of the conclusion of tonight’s game, the Blueshirts are tied for the NHL lead in third-period goals this season (47).

–       CLOSE CALL – Nine of the Blueshirts’ last 14 games, including five of their last seven games, have been decided by one goal. In addition, 19 of the Rangers’ last 25 games, as well as 27 of their 36 games this season, have been decided by two or fewer goals.

–       SHOOTING GALLERY – The Rangers recorded 32 shots on goal in tonight’s contest, as 17 of 18 skaters registered at least one shot on goal. The Blueshirts have registered 30 or more shots on goal in 20 of 36 games in 2017-18.

–       Henrik Lundqvist made 34 saves in tonight’s contest and stopped all 14 shots he faced in the third period. He has made at least 30 saves in each of the last five games and in seven of his last nine appearances. Lundqvist made his 773rd career appearance with the Rangers in tonight’s contest. Among all players (skaters and goaltenders included), Lundqvist has made the 10th-most regular season appearances as a Ranger in franchise history (he is the Rangers’ all-time leader in appearances by a goaltender).

–       Jimmy Vesey tallied a goal, recorded three shots on goal, was credited with two hits, and registered two takeaways. Vesey extended his point streak to three games, which is now his career-high (two goals, one assist over the span), and he has recorded a goal in each of the last two contests. He ranks third among the Rangers in even-strength goals this season (eight).

–       J.T. Miller registered a goal, won 13 of 15 faceoffs (86.7%), and posted a plus-one rating. He has recorded a goal/point in three of the last five games (three goals over the span), and he has tallied a point in eight of the last 12 contests (four goals, four assists). Miller leads the Rangers with 23 points (six goals, 17 assists) in 24 games against Eastern Conference opponents this season.

–       Pavel Buchnevich tallied an assist and posted a plus-one rating. Buchnevich leads the Rangers with 20 points at home this season (eight goals, 12 assists).

–       Chris Kreider registered an assist, led the Rangers with four shots on goal, and posted a plus-one rating. He has tallied a point in five of the last six games (one goal, four assists), including an assist in each of the last two games.

–       David Desharnais led all skaters with 15 faceoff wins (15-for-19; 78.9%), recorded three shots on goal, and was credited with two takeaways.

–       Ryan McDonagh led all skaters with six blocked shots and recorded two takeaways while skating in a team-high 25:36 of ice time in tonight’s contest. McDonagh skated in his 499th career NHL game tonight.

• Alain Vigneault, New York Rangers head coach

On tonight’s game…

“It was a hard-fought game, few mistakes on both sides, goaltending was obviously very good on both sides. Unfortunately on our non-tying goal there, (Kevin Hayes) was a little offside. It sort of took that rhythm away there at the end.” 

On the usage of lines during the third period…

“With the power play time, Boo and Paul (Carey) hadn’t seen a lot of ice time. I was going to go down to three lines and after that first shift in the third there I just went in another direction.”

On his thoughts going into the three-day break…

“Well we wanted to win, we didn’t win. We have three days. It’s Christmas for everybody, so I want the guys to relax and enjoy it.”

• Mike Babcock, Toronto Maple Leafs head coach

On the offside call to negate Grabner’s goal…

“Obviously the guys in the room did a really good job by that. It was an important two points for our team and I felt we did a lot of good things. Lundqvist played unbelievably and got a bunch in the third. It was a good win for our team and three days off here should be fun for the guys.” 

On what was different tonight than the last four road games…

“The lineup is better and deeper and when you get Matty (Auston Matthews) back it is what you do and Hyman was what he was. Willy (Nylander) is a much better winger than he is at center at this point in his career and when you get him back we are a much deeper team. Obviously, that makes a big difference, plus we had a chance to freshen up.”

• Rick Nash, New York Rangers forward 

On the chances in the third period…

“I thought it was a good push in the third. It seemed like we had our chances to come back, but that offsides was obviously offsides.”

On refocusing after the disallowed goal…

“You try to turn it into a positive. You got your opportunity, you scored, but obviously, it was an offside play. You try to stay upbeat on the bench. You still have some time left to get another chance.”

On the team’s frustration going into the break…

“Whenever you have a little stretch like this you always want to go into it on a positive note. The last two games haven’t been our best, but there’s been a lot of hockey. We will get a chance to recharge and come back against a very good Washington team.”

• Ryan McDonagh, New York Rangers defenseman 

On the third period…

“We had a good start to the first period, the first half there, and then we took some penalties and kind of lost some momentum there. We lost our jump and they controlled the play for a good stretch. We found a way to get some sort of a push in the third, but they capitalized on a couple of our breakdowns and we weren’t able to get enough by their goalie [Frederik Andersen].”

On what you take from tonight’s game…

“It’s a sour feeling. We had a tough game against the Devils where we didn’t have a great effort collectively and tonight it was just so-so at times. That’s a good team with a lot of skill and they took away a lot of our time and space. I think we passed up some shots we would like to have back. Our power play could have chipped in there 5-on-3.”

On the feelings going into the break…

“We’ll take the rest. We’ve been playing a lot of hockey here. Sitting in the room beforehand, it’s a fun time of year – enjoy it with your families but at the same time kind of reflect on your game individually in here and collectively come back ready to play some good hockey. It is not going to get any easier in here as we continue. It’s always tight. We have to find a way collectively as a team here to put together some good efforts back to back.” 

• Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers goaltender 

On the team not being able to climb out of the hole tonight…

“We were playing a really good team.  We needed a really strong game to win this one.  I felt like at times we played well, but the last two games are kind of a reminder for us of how hard we have to work and how well we have to play to get points.  We are not one of the top teams.  We are one of those teams that are going to battle really hard to get in, so we need the best effort every night to have a chance.  We came a little short here against a really skilled team.  The good thing is we never gave up and we worked really hard, especially in the second half of the game, to try to come back.”

On how the play developed on Auston Matthews’ game-winning goal…

“He (Matthews) was left alone there, so I felt like he was going to have way too much time.  I kind of tried to poke it away.  Unfortunately, after I poked it away he had enough time to walk around me.  Obviously, he’s the wrong guy to face one-on-one in front of the net.  He had a really good game.  It felt like he was all over us.  He had breakaways and a lot of chances in front.  They’re good.  It felt like they were really good at finding chances on the inside.  That’s challenging for a goalie and our D when they come on the inside and they make a lot of skilled moves.  So it was a challenging game, but we came close.” 

On whether the break is coming at a good time…

“I look forward to Christmas, that’s for sure.  I have my family here.  But we wanted to end on a high note, no question about that. But we will take the break now.  We will recharge.  We are going to have a big challenge in the first game back, so let’s enjoy Christmas here and recharge and come back ready to play.”

• Frederik Andersen, Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender

On his mindset heading into the goal review process…

“I want to focus on the next power play coming up.  You never know what’s going to happen when you haven’t seen the video.  You don’t want to start celebrating and need to start mentally preparing for the next shot whether it’s on a power play, penalty kill, or it’s still a one-goal lead.” 

On the impact, Auston Matthews has in being back in the lineup…

“It’s tough to say.  I think we did a really good job in the beginning when he was out the first time but you look at the skill and the chemistry he has with Willy [William Nylander] and Hymy [Zach Hyman] on that first goal.  That was incredible and they had them in the zone for a long time there and finally got it in.  Then you see the skill on his goal.”

• Morgan Rielly, Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman 

On getting off to a good start…

“I think we had a good start.  You obviously want to win this one before the long break.  We came in and knew we had to get a good start so that’s what we did.  We traded chances a bit more than we would like to.  That’s a good team over there.  They got their chances and I thought their goalie was outstanding.” 

On the biggest factor in the road win…               

“It was the start.  It can be tough on the road when you come into a building like this that can get rocking.  They’re an outstanding team so I think we’re proud of the way we came out and started and skated at times.  We kept it simple.  There were a few other times where we didn’t do quite as good of a job at that.  It’s just kind of one of those games where we exchanged changes a bit more than we like but our goalie played outstanding.  Their goalie was great.”

–       Sunday, Dec. 24 – Tuesday, Dec. 26: Holiday Break; Team is OFF

–       Next Game: Wednesday, Dec. 27 vs. Washington (8:00 p.m. ET – TV: NBCSN)

*Schedule subject to change

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