AVALANCHE RUN OVER RANGERS 3-1 

      VERSUS     

NEW YORK RANGERS POST-GAME NOTES
March 17, 2012 (Game 71, Home Game 35)
Madison Square Garden – New York, NY

Team Notes:

• The Rangers were defeated by the Colorado Avalanche, 3-1, tonight at Madison Square Garden, and are now 2-2-0 on their current seven-game homestand.
• New York has posted a record of 44-20-7 (95 pts.) overall, including a 24-9-2 mark at home.
• Tonight’s loss ended the Rangers’ three-game winning streak on St. Patrick’s Day.
• The Rangers out-shot the Avalanche, 42-20, led by Ryan Callahan’s game-high, seven shots on goal. The Blueshirts’ 42 shots on goal marks a season-high, and is the most since New York registered 47 shots on goal against the Islanders on Mar. 15, 2011.  It is the third time this season the Rangers posted 40 shots in a game.

Player Notes:

• Mats Zuccarello opened the game’s scoring with his first goal of the season at 10:43 of the first period, and logged 14:32 of ice time in the contest.  He has now tallied two points (one goal, one assist) in four games since being recalled from Connecticut (AHL) on Sunday.
• Dan Girardi registered the primary assist on Zuccarello’s goal, and led all skaters with 27:02 of ice time.  He has now tallied four assists in the last eight contests, including two assists in the last three.
• Ryan McDonagh recorded an assist and was credited with two hits in 23:58 of ice time.  He has tallied three assists in the last five games.
• Henrik Lundqvist stopped 17 of 19 shots in his return to the lineup after missing the previous two contests with the flu.  He has now posted a record of 32-15-5 overall, including an 18-7-2 mark at home.
• Tim Erixon was credited with a career-high, three hits and logged 9:57 of ice time following his recall from Connecticut (AHL) earlier today.

Post-Game Quotes:

John Tortorella on tonight’s game…

“It’s one of the better performances I’ve seen (Colorado goaltender Semyon Varlamov).  You can see how that game was going.  A couple of Dubi’s (Brandon Dubinsky) shots were ready to trickle in, and he (Varlamov) gets it with his butt end.  That’s just the way it went.  I’m encouraged. We were stiffer. I thought we made some really good defensive plays and our chances were really good chances, so we can’t get discouraged.”

Henrik Lundqvist on tonight’s game…

“I feel pretty good. The last few games I haven’t seen that much action, so the toughest part is to stay sharp. Two goals (against) tonight. I feel pretty good, but still I would have liked to come up with two more saves and have a 1-0 game. We just have to keep working hard. I think we did a lot of good things. Personally, I felt pretty good. We still have a few things to improve, including myself.”

Ryan Callahan on what the team could have done differently tonight…

“Bury our chances, I guess.  We played the style we wanted to, we were upbeat.  We had a lot of time in their end, we had a lot of chances.  It’s just a matter of putting that one in the net.”

Team Schedule:

• The Rangers will return to action when they face-off against the New Jersey Devils on Monday, Mar. 19, at Madison Square Garden (7:30 p.m.), in an Atlantic Division match-up.  The game will be televised live on NBC Sports Network and can be heard on 1050 ESPN Radio.