EX-RANGER (WOLF PACK) BEATS RANGERS 

          VERSUS        

The Rangers were defeated by the Tampa Bay Lightning Thursday night on a late third period goal and the only score in the shootout by ex-Wolf Pack and Ranger Dominic Moore, 3-2 at Madison Square Garden.

Here’s the Rangers release:

NEW YORK RANGERS POST-GAME NOTES

December 8, 2011 (Game 25, Home Game 11)

Madison Square Garden – New York, New York

Team Notes:

–        The Rangers were defeated by the Tampa Bay Lightning, 3-2, in the shootout tonight at Madison Square Garden, and have now registered a point in 13 of their last 16 games (12-3-1 over the span).

–        New York is 15-6-4 (34 pts) on the season, including a 7-2-2 record at home.

–        The Rangers’ six regulation losses are the fewest in the league.

–        New York has recorded a point in 11 of their last 14 games against Tampa Bay, posting a record of 8-3-3 over the span.

–        The Blueshirts tallied two special teams goals in the contest, including a power play goal in the first period and a shorthanded goal in the second.  New York is now 7-30 (23.3%) with the man advantage in their last seven games, and have notched a power play goal in seven straight home games (8-37, 21.6% over the span).  The shorthanded goal was the team’s second of the season.

Player Notes:

–        Henrik Lundqvist made 29 saves through regulation and overtime, including 13 of 14 in the second period, and stopped one of two shootout attempts in the contest.  Lundqvist, who has started in each of the last 25 games against Tampa Bay dating back to Nov. 10, 2005, is 9-2-1 with a 1.98 GAA, .933 Sv% and one shutout in his last 12 games.

–        Ryan Callahan notched a power play goal, led all skaters with a season-high, eight hits and tied for the game-high with five shots on goal in a career-high, 28:11 of ice time.  He has now tallied 17 points (nine goals, eight assists) in the last 17 games, including eight points (three goals, five assists) in the last seven games.

–        Artem Anisimov tallied his first career shorthanded goal/point at 13:23 of the second period to extend his point streak to four games (three goals, two assists over the span), and has tallied 13 points (four goals, nine assists) in the last 14 games.

–        Brad Richards recorded a power play assist to extend his point streak to seven games (four goals, seven assists over the span), including a five-game assist streak (six assists total, including five on the power play).  Richards, who won a team-high, 11 face-offs in 26:02 of ice time, has now registered 19 points (nine goals, 10 assists) in the last 17 games.

–        Derek Stepan registered a power play assist and won 5-8 face-offs (63%) in a season-high, 21:31 of ice time.  Stepan extended his assist/point streak to four games (one goal, four assists over the span), and has tallied 16 points (five goals, 11 assists) in the last 17 games.  He is now tied for second on the team with 12 assists on the season.

–        Michael Del Zotto tallied his first career shorthanded assist/point with the primary assist on Anisimov’s shorthanded goal, and was credited with two blocked shots in 26:28 of ice time.  He has now recorded five assists in the last six games, and is tied for the team lead among defensemen with nine assists on the season.

–        Brandon Dubinsky registered a shorthanded assist and three shots on goal in 15:39 of ice time.  The shorthanded assist/point was his first of the year.

–        Dan Girardi was credited with a team-high, five blocked shots and led all skaters with 32:00 of ice time.  It is the ninth time in his career, and fifth of the season, Girardi logged 30:00+ of ice time in a game, and he has registered four or more blocked shots in seven games this season.

Post-Game Quotes:

–        John Tortorella on the team’s character…

“I like the team. I think it’s a good core. I think it has good people. I’m not going to get into a long dissertation about it. I think everyone knows how I feel about the club and personnel. It’s a good group of guys. We let one get away tonight. It happens; no one is happy about it. We just go back to work tomorrow and try to get back into a win.”

–        Henrik Lundqvist on tonight’s game…

“We played well; we’ve been playing well for a long time now. When guys go out of the lineup we have other guys get a good opportunity to play more and it’s important for guys to get the challenge of playing more minutes. We had a really strong first (period) and they came out a little bit better in the second (period), but overall it was a pretty even game.”

–        Ryan Callahan on tonight’s game…

“There were a lot of penalties we were killing, and when we were doing that it’s hard to get momentum and sustain pressure. We have the same guys killing and the same guys on the bench, so it’s hard to get momentum that way.”

Team Schedule:

–        The Blueshirts’ practice schedule for tomorrow, December 9, is 12:00 p.m. at the MSG Training Center.

–        The Rangers will return to action when they face-off against the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday, December 10, at First Niagara Center (7:00 p.m.), to begin a back-to-back set.  The game will be televised live on MSG Network and can be heard on 1050 ESPN Radio.