NEW YORK RANGERS vs. EDMONTON OILERS
Sunday, Nov. 14, 12:30 p.m.
Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
Rangers: 8-7-1 (17 pts)
Oilers: 4-8-3 (11 pts)
* All information through NHL games on Nov. 12
TOMORROW’S GAME:
The Rangers will face-off against the Edmonton Oilers tomorrow, Nov. 14, at Madison Square Garden (12:30 p.m.), to conclude their four-game homestand. The Blueshirts currently rank second in the Atlantic Division standings, and sixth in the Eastern Conference, with a record of 8-7-1 (17 pts). The Rangers enter tomorrow’s contest having defeated the Buffalo Sabres, 3-2, in overtime on Thursday at Madison Square Garden, and are now 1-2-0 on the four-game homestand. The Oilers enter the contest with a 4-8-3 (11 pts) record to rank 15th in the Western Conference, and are 1-2-1 on their current five-game road trip. Tomorrow’s contest will begin the fourth of 18 back-to-back sets for the Rangers, who will face-off against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday, Nov. 15, at the CONSOL Energy Center (7:00 p.m.), to close out the set.
RANGERS PRACTICE SCHEDULE:
Rangers’ head coach John Tortorella will be available to the media at 10:30 a.m. in the multi-purpose room located on the fifth floor of Madison Square Garden.
* Schedule and availability subject to change
BROADCAST INFORMATION:
* TV: MSG Network
12:00 p.m. – Rangers Pre-Game Show with Al Trautwig
12:30 p.m. – Rangers vs. Oilers?
Broadcasters: John Giannone (Play-By-Play), Joe Micheletti (Analyst), Al Trautwig (In-Game Reporter)
* Radio: 970 The Apple?
12:00 p.m. – Rangers Pre-Game with Bob Galerstein
12:30 p.m. – Rangers vs. Oilers
Broadcasters: Joe Tolleson (Play-By-Play), Dave Maloney (Analyst)
RANGERS vs. OILERS:
* All-Time: The Rangers are 25-26-9-2 all-time against the Oilers: 11-14-6-1 at home and 14-12-3-1 on the road
* 2010-11: Today’s contest marks the first and only meeting between the Rangers and Oilers this season
* Last Season: New York was 1-0-0 against Edmonton in 2009-10, defeating the Oilers, 4-2, in their only meeting on Nov. 5, 2009 at Rexall Place
* New York ranks 22nd in the NHL at home with a record of 3-4-1 (7 pts) in eight games; Edmonton has posted a record of 2-4-3 (7 pts) in seven road games to rank 22nd in the league
* The Rangers have posted a record of 0-1-0 vs. Northwest Division opponents; the Oilers are 0-0-1 vs. the Atlantic Division
* Henrik Lundqvist has posted a record of 1-0-2 with a 2.54 goals against average in three career regular season games vs. Edmonton
* Marian Gaborik has recorded a team-high, 18 goals and 23 assists for 41 points in 45 career regular season appearances vs. the Oilers; Alex Frolov has registered 10 assists and 16 points in 27 career regular season contests vs. Edmonton
* New York lists no former Oilers on their roster
* Edmonton lists one former Ranger on their roster: Jason Strudwick (2005-06 – 2006-07, 2007-08)
* Current Oilers’ head coach Tom Renney served as the Rangers’ head coach from Feb. 25, 2004 to Feb. 23, 2009, posting a record of 164-121-42 in 327 regular season games; his 164 wins rank fourth on the Rangers’ all-time coaching wins list
SPECIAL TEAMS:
* Power Play: The Rangers did not convert on five power play opportunities (9:21) on Thursday vs. Buffalo, and are now 8-44 (18.2%) with the man advantage over the last 11 games. New York ranks 15th in the NHL with a 15.9% (10-63) success rate, and ranks 23rd at home with a 12.8% (5-39) success rate. The Rangers did not convert on one, five-on-three chance (0:39) on Thursday vs. the Sabres, and are now 0-3 on five-on-three attempts (2:47). New York is 0-1 (1:05) with a four-on-three advantage this season. Shorthanded goals allowed (0).
* Penalty Killing: The Blueshirts held the Sabres scoreless in two shorthanded situations (4:00) on Thursday at MSG, and are now 11-12 (91.7%) over the last four games. New York ranks 24th in the NHL with a 78.5% (51-65) success rate, and are 28th in the league at home with a 76.5% (26-34) success rate. The Rangers held the Maple Leafs scoreless in one, three-on-five situation (0:31) on Oct. 30 at Toronto, and are 4-6 on three-on-fives (5:08) this season. The Blueshirts yielded one goal in two, three-on-four situations on Tuesday vs. Washington, and are now 3-5 (2:34) in those situations this season. Shorthanded goals for (2): 10/9 at BUF (Dubinsky); 11/5 at NJD (Dubinsky).
* Four-on-Four: New York tallied one goal in one, four-on-four situation (1:32) in Thursday’s 3-2 overtime win vs. Buffalo, and are now plus-one in 14, four-on-four situations (15:21) this season. Four-on-four goals for (2): 10/18 vs. COL (Frolov); 11/11 vs. BUF (Anisimov). Four-on-four goals allowed (1): 10/15 vs. TOR (Kessel).
BUSY DAY AT MSG:
The Rangers and Knicks have played on the same day at the current Madison Square Garden on 35 occasions, with the Rangers posting a record of 14-15-6 (0-1-0 in 2010-11) and the Knicks registering a 21-14 (0-1 in 2010-11) mark in those games. Today is the second of three occasions the Rangers and Knicks are scheduled to play at MSG on the same day this season, having previously done so on Nov. 7 (NYR vs. STL, NYK vs. PHI) and scheduled to do so again on Dec. 12 (NYR vs. WSH, NYK vs. DEN).
BACK-TO-BACKS:
Tomorrow’s contest will begin the Rangers’ fourth of 18 back-to-back sets this season. The Blueshirts are currently 1-2-0 in the first game of back-to-backs following a 4-1 loss at Philadelphia on Nov. 4, and are 0-1-0 when the first game of the set is at Madison Square Garden.
TEAM EFFORT:
The Rangers have had seven different players credited with at least one game winning goal this season, which is tied for third most in the league. Montreal and Washington each have eight different players with at least one game winner, while Anaheim, Boston, Detroit, Los Angeles, Ottawa, and Vancouver are tied with New York entering today’s action.
BLOCK PARTY:
The Blueshirts currently lead the NHL with 289 blocked shots on the season, averaging a league-high, 18.1 blocked shots per contest. Dan Girardi ranks first in the NHL with 52 blocked shots, and Ryan Callahan leads all NHL forwards with 25 blocked shots.
A BROADWAY HIT:
The Rangers currently rank second in the NHL with 463 hits on the season, and lead the league with an average of 28.9 hits per contest. Ryan Callahan leads the team and ranks second in the NHL with 61 hits, and Brian Boyle ranks 19th in the league with 43 hits on the season.
THE HOT LIST:
* The Blueshirts’ penalty kill has surrendered just one goal in their last four contests, registering a 91.7% success rate (11-12) over the span
* Artem Anisimov has registered six points (two goals, four assists) in the last six games
* Brian Boyle has tallied three goals in the last four games
* Dan Girardi has recorded an assist in three of the last four games
* Brandon Dubinsky has notched five goals and six points in the last six games
* Ryan Callahan has registered 12 points (four goals, eight assists) in his last 11 games
* Henrik Lundqvist is 5-3-0 in his last eight starts, registering a 2.15 goals against average, .923 save percentage and two shutouts over the span
ALL-TIME RANGERS SHUTOUTS
Henrik Lundqvist posted his first shutout of the season with a 36-save performance on Oct. 30 at Toronto and, in the process, passed Mike Richter, Chuck Rayner and Lorne Worsley for fourth on the Rangers’ all-time regular season shutouts list with 25 career regular season shutouts.
YOUTH IS SERVED:
Based on opening day rosters, the Rangers have the ninth youngest team in the NHL with an average age of 27 years and 44 days, and the second youngest defensive corp in the league, trailing only Los Angeles with an average age of 25 years and 51 days.
MILESTONES IN SIGHT:
* John Tortorella: 3 wins from 300 NHL career
* Artem Anisimov: 1 game from 100 NHL career
* Michael Del Zotto: 4 games from 100 NHL career
* Dan Girardi: 4 games from 300 NHL career
MILESTONES RECENTLY ACHIEVED:
* Michael Sauer: 1st career NHL assist/point (10/23 at BOS)
* Ryan Callahan: 100th career NHL point (10/23 at BOS)
* Evgeny Grachev: 1st career NHL game (10/29 vs. CAR)
* Sean Avery: 500th career NHL game (11/1 vs. CHI)
INJURIES:
* Vinny Prospal (IR on Sept. 24/knee surgery on Oct. 18, 6-8 weeks) – 16
* Chris Drury (IR – fractured finger on Oct. 15, 6 weeks) – 13
* Michal Rozsival (shoulder strain, 7-10 days) – 1
Total Man-Games Lost: 48
RECENT TRANSACTIONS:
* Nov. 8: Assigned forward Evgeny Grachev to Hartford
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