RANGERS GIVE PACK’S BOB CRAWFORD A GIFT WITH BIG PERFORMANCE FOR HIS NHL DEBUT 

OFFICIAL GAME REPORTS   GOALIES
Game Summary                              NJD: K. Kinkaid (L)    NYR: H. Lundqvist (W)
Event Summary

–       HOME COOKING – The Rangers have won 10 of their last 11 home games, dating back to Oct. 26 vs. Arizona (10-1-0 record over the span). The Blueshirts have earned 10 wins in a span of 11 home games (within one season) for the first time since the team posted a 12-1-0 record over a stretch of 13 home contests from Oct. 20, 1982, to Dec. 15, 1982. New York has also won 11 of its last 13 home contests (11-2-0; dating back to Oct. 21 vs. Nashville) and has earned at least one point in 13 of its last 15 home games (11-2-2 record; dating back to Oct. 17 vs. Pittsburgh). The Rangers have earned at least one point in 14 of 19 games at MSG in 2017-18 (12-5-2 record).

–       WINNING WAYS – The Rangers have won seven of their last nine games (7-2-0 record) and have outscored their opponents, 35-20, over the last nine contests. The Blueshirts have won 13 of their last 17 games (13-4-0 record) and 15 of their last 21 contests (15-6-0 record). In addition, the Rangers have earned at least one point in 17 of their last 23 games (15-6-2 record over the span).

–       BACK-TO-BACK – The Blueshirts concluded their third back-to-back set of the 2017-18 season tonight. The Rangers have posted a 2-1-0 record in the second game of a back-to-back set this season. Since the start of last season, the Rangers have posted a 13-6-0 record in the second game of a back-to-back set. In their last 101 back-to-back sets (since the start of the 2010-11 season), the Rangers have posted a 66-29-6 record in the second game of the set.

–       GOALS GALORE – The Rangers have registered at least three goals in 18 of the last 23 games, as well as four or more goals (including team goals awarded for a shootout win) in 15 of those contests (85 goals; 84 in regulation/overtime). The Blueshirts have tallied four or more goals in five of the last six games (24 goals) and in six of the last eight contests (32 goals over the span).

–       TEAM EFFORT – Four different Rangers tallied at least one goal and nine different Rangers recorded at least one point in tonight’s game.

–       PICK SIX – Three different Rangers recorded their sixth goal of the season in tonight’s game (Mats Zuccarello, Jimmy Vesey, and Kevin Hayes). Nine different Rangers have registered six or more goals through the first 29 games of the 2017-18 season.

–       TWO GOOD – The Blueshirts have allowed two goals or fewer in six of the last 10 games and in eight of the last 13 games. The Rangers have allowed 40 goals over their last 16 contests (2.50 goals against per game over the span).

–       MAKING THE DIFFERENCE – The Rangers have posted a plus-11 goal differential thus far this season, which is the second-best goal differential among Metropolitan Division teams.

–       KILL ZONE – The Rangers were 3-for-3 (5:12) on the penalty kill in tonight’s game. The Blueshirts have killed off 47 of their opponents’ last 54 power play opportunities (87.0% over the span). The Rangers have not allowed more than one power-play goal in a game in 27 consecutive contests.

–       FIRST IN SCORE – The Rangers tallied the first goal of the game for the 13th time in 2017-18, and the Blueshirts have posted a 10-3-0 record when registering the first goal of the game this season.

–       FINISHING THE JOB – The Rangers have posted a 10-0-0 record when leading entering the third period this season.

–       TAKING THE METRO – Tonight’s game was the Rangers’ fourth consecutive contest against a Metropolitan Division opponent, and the Rangers posted a 3-1-0 record in the four games. The Blueshirts have won four of their last five games against Metropolitan Division opponents (4-1-0), dating back to Nov. 22 at Carolina. New York has earned at least one point in seven of 11 games against Metropolitan Division teams thus far in 2017-18 (5-4-2 record).

–       RUNNING WITH THE DEVIL – The Rangers have earned at least one point in 17 of their last 22 games against the Devils, dating back to Mar. 19, 2013 (14-5-3 record over the span). New York has also earned at least one point in 14 of its last 17 contests against New Jersey, dating back to Dec. 7, 2013 (11-3-3 record). In addition, the Blueshirts have recorded at least one point in eight of their last nine home games against the Devils (6-1-2 record) and in 12 of their last 14 home games against New Jersey (10-2-2 record).

–       SHOOTING GALLERY – The Rangers registered 39 shots on goal in tonight’s contest, as 16 of 18 skaters recorded at least one shot on goal in the contest. The Blueshirts have registered at least 30 shots on goal in 16 of the last 26 games and in 18 of 29 games in 2017-18.

–       Mats Zuccarello recorded two goals, including the game-winning goal, registered three shots on goal, was credited with two takeaways, and posted a plus-two rating. He leads the Rangers in points this season (24; seven goals and 17 assists). Zuccarello has recorded a point in seven of the last nine games (four goals, six assists), and he has also tallied 13 points (four goals, nine assists) in the last 12 contests. Zuccarello has posted a plus-14 rating over the last 19 games, and he has posted a plus/minus rating of even or better in every game over the span.

–       Rick Nash tallied two assists, both of which were primary assists, led all skaters with three takeaways, and registered five shots on goal. Nash has recorded 14 points (six goals, eight assists) in the last 18 games, including nine points (four goals, five assists) in the last 13 contests. Entering tonight’s game, Nash was one of five NHL players who either led their team or was tied for the team lead in both shots on goal and takeaways thus far this season.

–       Jesper Fast tied a single-game career-high with two points (one goal, one assist), recorded three shots on goal, was credited with two hits, and registered two blocked shots. Fast extended his goal/point streak to three games (three goals, one assist); the three-game goal streak is a career-high and the three-game point streak is tied for his career-high. He has tallied seven points (six goals, one assist) in the last eight games, and he is tied for second on the Rangers in even-strength goals in 2017-18 (seven). The Rangers have posted a 15-7-2 record when Fast has been in the lineup this season and a 10-1-1 record in games which he has registered a point.

–       Henrik Lundqvist made 26 saves to earn his 14th win of the 2017-18 season. Lundqvist has now earned 419 wins in his NHL career (all with the Rangers), and he passed 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). Lundqvist started both games of a back-to-back set for the 80th time in his NHL career. In the second game of those 80 back-to-back sets, Lundqvist has posted a 52-21-7 record, along with a 2.02 GAA, a .930 SV%, and 9 SO. In addition, Lundqvist has posted a 7-0-0 record, along with a 1.70 GAA, a .948 SV%, and 1 SO in the second game of the last seven back-to-back sets in which he has started both games (dating back to when he started on Apr. 4, 2016 at Columbus and on Apr. 5, 2016 vs. Tampa Bay). Over his last eight appearances, he has posted a 6-1-0 record, along with a 2.04 GAA, a .936 SV%, and 1 SO. Lundqvist has also allowed two goals or fewer in eight of his last 12 appearances, posting an 8-3-0 record, along with a 2.26 GAA, a .933 SV%, and 1 SO over the span. He earned his 36th career win against the Devils tonight, and he has registered more wins against New Jersey than against any other team over the course of his NHL career.

–       Jimmy Vesey tallied the first goal of the game, was credited with two hits, and posted a plus-one rating. He has registered a point in five of the last nine games (two goals, three assists) and has tallied seven points (four goals, three assists) in the last 13 games.

–       Kevin Hayes registered a goal, led all skaters and tied a single-game career-high with six shots on goal, and led the Rangers with seven faceoff wins. He has tallied a point in six of the last 12 games (three goals, three assists). Kevin played against his brother, Jimmy Hayes, in an NHL game for the 10th time in his career, and the Rangers have won eight of the 10 contests.

–       Paul Carey recorded an assist, registered two shots on goal, and posted a plus-one rating. Carey extended his point streak to four games (one goal, three assists) and his assist streak to three games, both of which are career-highs. He has tallied five points (two goals, three assists) in the last eight games. In addition, Carey has recorded five points (two goals, three assists) in seven games against Metropolitan Division opponents this season.

–       J.T. Miller tallied an assist and posted a plus-one rating. Miller extended his point streak to five games (one goal, four assists) and his assist streak to four games; his four-game assist streak is tied for his career-high. He has also registered a point in seven of the last eight contests (one goal, six assists over the span), and he has notched 14 points (two goals, 12 assists) over the last 18 games. Miller leads the Rangers in assists this season (18). He has recorded 21 points (four goals, 17 assists) in 20 games against Eastern Conference opponents thus far in 2017-18.

–       Boo Nieves registered an assist and posted a plus-two rating. Nieves has tallied a point in three of the last four games (one goal, two assists), and he has posted a plus-nine rating in 15 games this season.

–       Ryan McDonagh recorded an assist, was credited with a team-high three blocked shots, and posted a plus-three rating while skating in a game-high 23:03 of ice time. The Rangers captain has registered an assist/point in three of four games he has played since returning to the lineup from an injury. In addition, McDonagh has recorded nine assists/points in his last 11 games, 12 assists/points in his last 15 games, and 14 assists/points in his last 19 contests. He is tied for first among Rangers defensemen in assists this season (15).

• Alain Vigneault, New York Rangers head coach

On the team’s response after last night’s loss…

“I thought we got off to a good start. I thought we had a real solid first period. Zucc’s goal in the second was obviously a turning point. I’m not sure if it was a PK goal or just at the end there, but that was a great individual effort and a really good shot. In the third, we did what we had to do to get the two points.” 

On the team’s strong play at home recently…

“I don’t think you can put a finger on one specific thing. I do know we have gotten off to better starts, and there’s no doubt that the play in front of Hank, and the play of Hank has been better. I think for quite some time here we’ve been playing some pretty good hockey. It’s a tough league. Every game is so competitive and hard fought. Tonight was a battle. There were a lot of 1-on-1 hard, gritty, greasy situations. Our guys did what they had to do to win the game.” 

On Jesper Fast’s goal scoring streak…

“I’ve always thought of him as a hardworking, two-way hockey player. He’s definitely one of our guys that plays the right way in all situations. He’s a good example, and he never gives up on a play. He’ll put his body on the line to get the job done. I’m hoping that that’s going to rub off on a couple of other guys because he’s a really good example.”                  

• John Hynes, New Jersey Devils head coach

On tonight’s game…

“We play soft and we play loose, you have no chance to win. That was tonight’s game. We were soft all over the ice, too many soft individuals. We played a loose game, that’s what happens.” 

On the toughness of the Metropolitan division…

“Doesn’t matter if it’s the Metropolitan division or if it’s any team. We went into Arizona, Arizona is not a Metropolitan division. We played soft, we played loose, we got beat bad. We played soft and loose tonight, we got beat bad. It’s the league.”

• Rick Nash, New York Rangers forward 

On tonight’s game…

“We were definitely ready for tonight. It was tough to give up points last night in Washington when you have a tie game against a very good team with a few minutes left, but it was a good bounce back.” 

On the Devils and how they defended tonight…

“They’re a young group with a lot of speed and a lot of skill. We tried to keep them in front of us, and if you could play in their zone like we did a lot of the night that’s frustrating for offensive guys.” 

On Jesper Fast…

“He’s like a hidden secret. Not too many people around the league know about him, but he could do it all. He could jump up and down the lineup. He’s a pretty special player. He’s fun to play with and he’s feeling it right now.”

• Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers goaltender 

His thoughts on tonight’s game…

“This is what we needed. That’s the good part about this league when you lose a game you don’t a lot of time to walk around and think about it. You just regroup and focus on the next one. I kind of like this; you get a challenge right away. We played really well. I felt like this was one of our better games as of late. We had good speed, real energy, and created a lot of good chances. You can see why the Devils have a good record. They are a fast team and they have some really good forwards. They are a little tricky to play against but I thought we did a really good job. We scored at the right time to grab the momentum of the game. Overall it was a strong game.”

On keeping the pressure in their zone…

“We watched the tape going into this game and they are really strong on turning pucks over and going. They are fast so you really have to manage the puck along the blue lines. That was the key to get the puck up out of our end and then really get the puck deep and get our forecheck going to put pressure on their defense. That’s how we took charge in this game. There were a lot of great efforts out there. It feels good.”

On whether he would play every game…

“If you ask me, yes. I’m not the guy making the decisions. We take it game by game. We look at it the day before and see how things are at. That’s really what we’ve been doing so far. We’ll see how many games I’ll play. I feel really good. I had a couple days off during the week so I feel good, I feel fresh. I feel ready to go.”

• Ryan McDonagh, New York Rangers defenseman 

On the confidence of the team… 

“I think just, more importantly, having a good response, just thinking short term here. Not having a great first against Washington and then letting one opportunity to maybe get a point or something out of the Washington game and then have a tough second half of that third period and it slips away. I liked our start in this one and pretty much throughout the whole game, I thought we were in control of where we were supposed to be on the ice and it looked like we were in sync because of it. You can create a lot of havoc in the o-zone, use our speed. We didn’t spend a lot of time in our own end here because we closed really well.” 

On if it felt like a big game to play…

“It did. Just coming off what happened in Washington and knowing where we are at in the standings there and just the challenge against a team that’s really, really fast. We found out real quick that you can’t hold on to the puck for too long even when you think you’ve got time coming out of your zone because they will stick with you. They’ve got great back pressure. I thought we adjusted well and put pucks to an area where we could get the guys going in foot races that way.” 

On the play by Mats Zuccarello…

“It’s a big moment there. It’s a big play in the game. Obviously, it gave us a lot of momentum and confidence again. He’s done all the little things you could ask for as far as the way you want to play defensively and make the players around you better. It’s great to see him get rewarded with a couple of big goals tonight. He’s been playing well the whole season and doing the things we need him to do as a leader up front there for the forwards. Great to see him get two there.”

• J.T. Miller, New York Rangers forward 

On tonight’s game…

“We executed really well early on and we did what we needed to do in the first period. We got them back on their heels and we capitalized on some opportunities and that’s always nice, obviously.” 

More on tonight’s game…

“I think when we put a lot of pressure on opponents we’re hard to handle as a group. I think when we’re forechecking with five guys, not just three, we’re making the right plays. Getting out of our end is really important and we did that for a lot of the night tonight.”

• Keith Kinkaid, New Jersey Devils goaltender 

On the amount of pressure he faced…

“I don’t think we gave ourselves a chance at all. You look at the turnovers we gave up and their penalty kill outworked our power play too.” 

On facing Metropolitan teams…                          

“Hopefully it is a wakeup call, we play in some tough buildings against some tough teams. And you look at the Metropolitan, you can’t slide on any given night. We have to figure it out.” 

On Zuccarello’s goal…

“He got a great shot and a great release. The play should have never happened.” 

• Andy Greene, New Jersey Devils defenseman 

On playing from behind…

“We gave them a few too easy ones. We didn’t get off to the start that we wanted, but the second period we played pretty well. We created a lot, but we were down two in the third- we still have a chance there. We just couldn’t get anything going.”

On scoring only five goals in the past two games…

“We need to be much stronger with the puck defensively, and make better puck decisions coming out of the zone, neutral zone, and offensive blue line. We have just been giving too many turnovers in those areas.”

–       Tomorrow (Sunday, Dec. 10): Team is OFF

–       Next Game: Monday, Dec. 11 vs. Dallas (7:00 p.m. ET – TV: MSG Network)

*Schedule subject to change

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