(FRI) RANGERS TROUNCE HURRICANES AGAIN ON GRABNER EMPTY HATTIE 

OFFICIAL GAME REPORTS  GOALIES
Game Summary                               CAR: S. Darling (L)        NYR: H. Lundqvist (W)
Event Summary

–       WINNING WAYS – The Rangers have won five of their last six games (5-1-0 record) and have outscored their opponents, 24-11, over the last six contests. The Blueshirts have won 11 of their last 14 games (11-3-0 record) and 13 of their last 18 contests (13-5-0 record). In addition, the Rangers have earned at least one point in 15 of their last 20 games (13-5-2 record over the span).

–       HOME COOKING – New York has won nine of its last 10 home games (9-1-0 record over the span), dating back to Oct. 26 vs. Arizona. The Rangers have earned at least one point in 13 of 18 home games this season (11-5-2 record at MSG in 2017-18). The Blueshirts lead the NHL in wins (11) and points (24) at home this season.

–       EYE OF THE STORM – The Rangers extended their home winning streak against Carolina to 14 games (the streak dates back to Jan. 5, 2011). The Blueshirts’ 14-game home winning streak against the Hurricanes is their longest home winning streak against one opponent in franchise history. Overall, the Rangers have won 23 of their last 27 games against the Hurricanes, dating back to Feb. 22, 2011 (23-4-0 record over the span). New York has also won 13 of its last 16 overall games against Carolina, dating back to Apr. 8, 2014 (13-3-0 record).

–       GOALS GALORE – The Rangers have registered at least three goals in 16 of the last 20 games, as well as four or more goals (including team goals awarded for a shootout win) in 13 of those contests (74 goals over the span).

–       TWO GOOD – The Blueshirts have allowed two goals or fewer in five of the last seven games, in seven of the last 10 games, and in 10 of the last 18 games. The Rangers have allowed 31 goals over their last 13 games, dating back to Nov. 2 at Tampa Bay (2.38 goals against per game over the span).

–       POWER RANGERS – The Rangers were 2-for-7 (9:00) on the power play in tonight’s contest. The Blueshirts have tallied at least one power play goal in 12 of 26 games in 2017-18, as well as two or more power play goals in seven contests.

–       KILL ZONE – The Blueshirts were 2-for-2 (2:12) on the penalty kill in tonight’s game. The Rangers have posted a 10-2-0 record when not allowing a power play goal this season.

–       RESILIENT RANGERS – The Rangers have outscored their opponents, 39-29, in game situations when they have trailed this season. The Blueshirts have recorded more goals when trailing than any other NHL team this season.

–       Michael Grabner tallied a hat trick, including the game-winning goal, tied for the game-high with four shots on goal, and posted a plus-two rating. He registered a hat trick for the fifth time in his NHL career and for the third time with the Rangers. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Grabner is the first Rangers player in the expansion era (since 1967-68) who has recorded two empty-net goals in one game. Grabner has tallied a goal/point in two of the last three games (four goals) and in three of the last six games (five goals). He leads the Rangers in goals this season (13), and all of his 13 goals have been even strength goals. Grabner also skated in his 499th career NHL game in tonight’s contest.

–       Henrik Lundqvist made 32 saves, stopped all of the final 31 shots he faced and made a save on a penalty shot in the third period to earn his 13th win of the 2017-18 season. Lundqvist has now earned 418 wins in his NHL career (all with the Rangers), and he tied Tony Esposito for the second-most wins a goaltender has earned with one franchise in NHL history (Esposito earned 418 career wins with Chicago). The only goaltender in NHL history who has earned more career wins with one franchise than Lundqvist has with the Rangers is Martin Brodeur (688 with New Jersey). In addition, by earning his 13th win of the season, Lundqvist became the first goaltender in NHL history to earn 13 or more wins in each of his first 13 NHL seasons. Over his last six appearances, Lundqvist has posted a 5-0-0 record, along with a 1.68 GAA, a .945 SV%, and 1 SO. He has also allowed two goals or fewer in seven of his last 10 appearances, posting a 7-2-0 record, along with a 2.09 GAA, a .937 SV%, and 1 SO over the span. Lundqvist has been selected as one of the game’s Three Stars in 12 of 23 appearances this season, including nine of his last 13 appearances. He has also made at least 30 saves in five of his last eight appearances and in 10 of his last 19 appearances. Lundqvist made his 14th consecutive start tonight (dating back to Oct. 31 vs. Vegas). He has posted an 11-2-0 record, along with a 2.36 GAA, a .927 SV%, and 1 SO during his 14-game consecutive start streak, and he leads the NHL in wins over the span. Lundqvist has started at least 14 consecutive games for the ninth time in his NHL career and for the first time since he started the final 14 games of the 2012-13 season (Apr. 1, 2013 – Apr. 27, 2013).

–       Kevin Shattenkirk notched an assist on the game-winning goal and posted a plus-one rating. Shattenkirk has recorded an assist/point in two of the last three games, and he has registered 12 points (three goals, nine assists) in the last 15 games.

–       David Desharnais recorded a power play goal, won seven of nine faceoffs (77.8%), and registered two shots on goal. He has registered four points (one goal, three assists) in the last two games, as well as seven points (one goal, six assists) in his last 12 games.

–       Paul Carey registered a power play goal, was credited with two takeaways and recorded two shots on goal. He has tallied a goal/point in two of the last five games, and he has recorded both of his goals/points this season against Carolina.

–       J.T. Miller registered an assist on the game-winning goal and posted a plus-one rating. He has tallied a point in four of the last five games (one goal, three assists). In addition, he has tallied 11 points (two goals, nine assists) in the last 15 contests. Miller leads the Rangers in even strength assists (12) and is tied for the team lead in even strength points (15) this season.

–       Ryan McDonagh recorded an assist and led all skaters with five blocked shots and four takeaways while skating in a team-high, 22:54 of ice time. He has tallied seven assists/points in his last eight games and 10 assists/points in his last 12 contests.

–       Boo Nieves recorded an assist, tied for the game-high with four hits, and posted a plus-one rating in 14:28 of ice time.

–       Jimmy Vesey tallied an assist and registered three shots on goal in 18:18 of ice time. Vesey has recorded a point in four of the last six games (one goal, three assists).

–       Brendan Smith registered an assist in tonight’s contest. He has tallied an assist/point in three of the last five games.

–       Marc Staal tallied an assist, recorded two shots on goal, and posted a plus-one rating.

• Alain Vigneault, New York Rangers head coach

On the team’s strong game after Tuesday’s loss…

“At the end of the day, we played a good game (Tuesday), we probably deserved a better result. For us tonight, it was just a matter of continuing to play the right way, and that’s what I thought we did. Hank showed some real mental strength there, to start off the game that way, giving up that type of goal after being pulled the last game. Obviously, that must have been very challenging for him. He responded real well, he was real focused the rest of the game. In my opinion that was not a penalty shot, but it was a great save, he made two. He was dialed in and he did a great job for us tonight.” 

On Grabner’s strong play since joining the Rangers last season…

“I think prior to him coming here, he had some years where he had quite a few goals. With us, he was given an opportunity, and he’s made the best of it. He’s got great speed and he finds the holes. He’s got quite a few goals into the empty net, and he was a key player for us today.” 

On the strong play of the fourth line tonight…

“I thought they played well. They were strong on puck battles. They won a lot of those one-on-one battles that they needed to win to spend some time in the offensive zone, and they had quite a few good looks. I’m very pleased with how that line performed tonight.” 

On players stepping up to fill spots of injured players…

“That’s what we need to do. When we lost Ryan (McDonagh) on D, the six other defensemen that we used really stepped up their game. Desharnais, with both Kreider and Buch, that line hasn’t missed a step. They’ve been spending a lot of minutes in the other team’s zone, they’ve been getting some great looks. We got a bounce tonight on the power play goal, but you have to work hard to make those bounces. That’s what you have to do as a group when you’re missing some key elements.”                  

• Bill Peters, Carolina Hurricanes head coach 

On if the penalty shot could have changed the outcome of tonight’s game …

“It’s 2-1 at the time, in the first five minutes of the third – still early in the third and it’s 2-1. We went down to three, trying to make a push and give them credit. I thought they dug in and didn’t give up much.” 

On the first goal scored by the Rangers …

“Well, it’s unfortunate. Obviously, it had a little bit of English on it, so that’s unfortunate, but there’s lots of hockey to be played after that.” 

On losing early momentum by penalties …

“Yeah, there were lots, lots of penalties for a team that usually doesn’t take many. It was hard to get guys in the game. A lot of guys that we count on to provide offense for us and get us going were sitting on the bench for extended periods of time. Lots of time on the PK for some reason tonight.”

• Michael Grabner, New York Rangers forward 

On his first goal…

“Well, I think Shattenkirk’s a great passer out there so I knew he was going to try and get the puck to me or at least in front of the net.  He was looking up all the way up the ice trying to find me so I just tried to get open for him and he made a great play.”

On his thought process when it comes to empty net goals…

“Well, first of all, I try to kill off a little bit of time but when I get the chance, especially if it’s a one-goal game, I try to go and get that goal.  It’s a big relief I think when you go up two goals.  It’s always nerve-wracking when you’re out there and there’s one bad bounce like we saw last year in the playoffs.  A lot of times, it can cost you a game or teams coming back.  I’m just trying to, not cheat but when I get the chance, turn a goal and try to beat some guys.”

On Carolina’s goal defining the outcome of tonight’s game…

“I think it was just a fluke goal.  They shot and then it just went in one minute into the game.  I think it didn’t really throw us off too much.  We had a lot of game left obviously to play.  Just trying to go back out there and focus on our game and work back for him.”

• Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers goaltender 

On the penalty shot…

“It’s always hard to know what they’re going to call in that situation.  I’ve seen it play out both ways.  I feel like he got a pretty good opportunity to shoot the puck and then got two chances there.  There was the shootout last week, I got to work on it a little bit.  A couple of things I did well in that situation.  Similar situation this time and the timing was perfect.”

On whether he anticipated the approach in the penalty shot…

“No.  You wait for him to make a move.  It was a challenging game.  They got some good looks throughout the game.  Obviously, 2-1 game until there’s two minutes to go.  It’s a big win for us.  We bounced back after the loss we had the other day.”

On the team’s play in front of the net in both ends …

“I think if we compare us to them, I think we did a better job of taking care in front of the net.  That’s really where you score goals now in this league.  You try to get in front and get to loose pucks.  When you play well in front, especially in your own end, you’ve seen good things happen for us and we get to loose pucks and get going and we look faster.  We did that part really well tonight and we exposed them in the middle and got a lot of good looks.  I thought that was the difference, the play right in front in both ends. 

On the team bouncing back from a loss…

“If you want to be in the race now when everyone is winning, you can’t afford to lose too many games.  You have to bounce back right away.  You can’t let it slide.  Sometimes you can get stuck and create a bigger problem than it is if you start losing too many games.  That’s why you want to turn around right away and start feeling good about yourself.  It’s easy to be on your toes when you feel good.”

• Ryan McDonagh, New York Rangers defenseman

On how he felt tonight…

“I felt really good. I had good skating legs, obviously a little bit fresh, which helps. But, I felt powerful and explosive.”

On responding after allowing the first goal…

“It’s obviously a goal Hanky (Henrik Lundqvist) will admit he wants back, but that’s okay.  He’s playing really well and made some big saves. I liked the way we responded there, didn’t panic and found a way to get a lead. In the second (period) they were putting a lot of pressure on us, but I thought we did a good job staying around the net there and not allowing those second and third opportunities and rebounds. That’s a team that plays really hard in front of the net, a lot of tips and deflections, so I think we limited those second looks a lot.”

On Henrik Lundqvist stopping the penalty shot…

“Hank, he‘s really stepping up in big moments as we continue on in this season. It’s great to see. He thrives in those situations and he wants to step up and make a difference there and it’s great to see him do that.” 

On Michael Grabner…

“There are tons of guys with speed in this game that can really skate, but he’s got great hockey sense with it and that’s what allows him to get these opportunities. You see the 5-on-5 goal that he scored and even the empty net goals, he’s not really ever cheating for them. He’s creating his opportunities by pressuring d-men and getting loose pucks when they’re chipped out. I just like the fact that he has great awareness of when and when not to use his speed to go on the attack.”

• Scott Darling, Carolina Hurricanes goaltender

On the first goal …

“That was a huge mistake by me. That got them back in the game and then they got the other one. Right now, we don’t have a big margin for error, so can’t make mistakes like that. That was the difference tonight.” 

On how the team rebounds from tonight’s loss …

“We just get ready for the next game. You can’t dwell on this. You’ll learn from it, and just move forward and try and fix the little things that didn’t work tonight and get it done next game.”

–       Monday, Dec. 4: TBA; weekly schedule for Monday, Dec. 4 – Sunday, Dec. 10 will be distributed via email this weekend

–       Next Game: Tuesday, Dec. 5 at Pittsburgh (7:30 p.m. ET – TV: MSG Network)

*Schedule subject to change

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