New York Rangers Pregame

Rangers GameDay: Pregame News and Notes

NEW YORK RANGERS at ST. LOUIS BLUES
Saturday, Jan. 16, 8:00 p.m.

Scottrade Center St. Louis, MO

Rangers: 22-18-7 (51 pts.)
Blues: 20-19-7 (47 pts.)
* All information through NHL games on Jan. 14

TOMORROW'S GAME:
The Rangers face-off against the St. Louis Blues tomorrow at Scottrade Center (8:00 p.m.), in the first game of a back-to-back set. The Blueshirts currently rank third in the Atlantic Division standings, and sixth in the Eastern Conference, with a record of 22-18-7 (51 pts.). The Rangers enter tomorrow's contest having been defeated by the Ottawa Senators, 2-0, on Thursday at Madison Square Garden, and have now recorded a point in 12 of their last 14 contests (8-2-4). The Blues enter the contest with a 20-19-7 (47 pts.) record, and rank 13th in the Western Conference. Following tomorrow's game, the Rangers will face-off against the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday, Jan. 17, at Madison Square Garden (7:00 p.m.), in an Original Six matchup.

RANGERS PRACTICE SCHEDULE:
The Blueshirts' optional morning skate is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. at the Scottrade Center.
* Schedule and availability subject to change

BROADCAST INFORMATION:

TV: PIX 11
8:00 p.m. - Rangers @ Blues
Broadcasters: Sam Rosen (Play-By-Play), Joe Micheletti (Analyst), Dave Maloney (In-Game Reporter)
Radio: 970 The Apple
7:30 p.m. - Rangers Pre-Game with Joe Tolleson
8:00 p.m. - Rangers @ Blues
Broadcasters: Joe Tolleson (Play-By-Play), Pete Stemkowski (Analyst)

RANGERS vs. BLUES:

All-Time: The Rangers are 74-36-16-0 all-time against the Blues: 45-10-6-0 at home and 29-26-10-0 on the road.
2009-10: This is the first of two meetings between the Rangers and Blues this season.
Last Season: New York were 0-1-0 against St. Louis in 2008-09, including an 0-1-0 mark at Scottrade Center. The Rangers penalty kill held the Blues scoreless in three power play opportunities in the season series.
The Rangers rank 10th in the NHL on the road with a record of 12-7-3 (27 pts.) in 22 games; the Blues have posted a record of 8-14-3 (19 pts.) in 25 home games to rank 30th in the league
New York have posted a record of 1-1-1 vs. the Central Division; St. Louis have registered a 1-1-1 mark vs. the Atlantic Division
Henrik Lundqvist has posted a record of 0-1-0 with a 2.03 goals against average in one career regular season contest vs. St. Louis
Marian Gaborik leads the team with 12 goals, 18 assists and 30 points in 28 career regular season contests vs. St. Louis; Christopher Higgins has tallied two points (one goal and one assist) in three career regular season appearances vs. the Blues
New York lists no former Blues on their roster
St. Louis lists no former Rangers on their roster

SPECIAL TEAMS:

Power Play: New York rank 13th in the NHL with a 19.0% (33-174) success rate, including a 15.2% (12-79) success rate on the road to rank 20th in the league. The Rangers have tallied four goals in eight five-on-three (6:22) chances, and are two of four (4:10) with a four-on-three advantage. Shorthanded goals allowed (5): 10/26 (V. Fiddler); 12/12 (P. Kaleta); 12/14 (C. Armstrong); 12/26 (B. Comeau); 1/4 (M. Hunwick).
Penalty Killing: The Rangers have held their opponents scoreless on the man advantage in their last 21 chances, including each of the last seven games overall entering tonight's contest. New York rank third in the NHL with an 86.5% (160-185) success rate, and rank fifth with an 85.1% (80-94) success rate away from MSG. The Rangers have surrendered two goals in 13 three-on-five (9:19) attempts, and are six of seven (5:13) when three-on-four. Shorthanded goals for (4): 10/3 (B. Dubinsky); 10/11 (D. Girardi); 11/14 (V. Prospal); 12/23 (M. Gaborik).
Four-on-Four: New York have skated in 55 (85:04) four-on-four situations. Four-on-Four goals for (2): 10/8 (R. Callahan); 10/17 (B. Dubinsky). Four-on-Four goals allowed (4): 10/24 (M. Cammalleri); 12/9 (D. Byfuglien); 12/17 (A. MacDonald); 1/2 (R. Whitney).

RANGERS NOTES:

SINGING THE BLUES - The Rangers own a .651 winning percentage all-time vs. the Blues, which ranks as the third highest winning percentage against an opponent in franchise history behind San Jose (.722%) and Vancouver (.688%). New York has out-scored St. Louis, 456-339, in their 126 regular season meetings.
BACK-TO-BACKS - Tomorrow's contest begins the Rangers eighth of 13 back-to-back sets on the season. New York has posted a record of 3-4-0 in the front-end of back-to-back sets thus far, and are 4-3-0 in the second game of the set.
THE RANGERS ON PIX 11 - In addition to tomorrow's game at St. Louis, MSG will Partner with PIX 11 in New York to air the New York Rangers vs. Montreal Canadiens game on Saturday, Jan. 23rd, at Bell Centre. Each of the games will be produced in HD featuring MSG announcers, and will be followed by MSG's popular weekly hockey roundup show "Hockey Night Live" on MSG Network.
BLUESHIRT OLYMPIANS - The Blueshirts will have five players representing their native country at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, Canada next month. Rangers Captain Chris Drury will be making his third Olympic appearance with Team USA (2002, 2006). He will be joined on Team USA by Ryan Callahan, who will be making his first Olympic appearance. Henrik Lundqvist, who helped Sweden capture the Gold Medal at the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Torino, Italy, will return for his second Olympic appearance. Marian Gaborik will also be making his second Olympic appearance with Slovakia (2006). Hartford Wolf Pack forward Andres Ambuhl, who signed with the Rangers on May 27, will represent Switzerland in his second Olympic appearance (2006). In addition, Rangers Head Coach John Tortorella will serve as an assistant coach for Team USA, Head Athletic Trainer Jim Ramsay will serve as an athletic therapist for Team Canada, and Massage Therapist/Assistant Trainer Bruce Lifrieri will serve as the massage therapist for Team USA.
A BROADWAY HIT - The Blueshirts currently rank second in the NHL with 1,315 hits, including 550 hits on the road to rank sixth in the league. Ryan Callahan ranks fourth in the NHL with 165 hits, and Michael Del Zotto ranks third among all first-year players with 105 hits.
RING LEADER - Rangers Captain Chris Drury registered a season-high 19 faceoff wins, and recorded a 79% (19-24) success rate on Thursday vs. Ottawa. Drury has now recorded a 50%-or-better faceoff winning percentage in each of the last six games, registering a 63.1% (77-122) success rate over the span.
GABY'S GOALS - Marian Gaborik has recorded 28 goals through the team's first 47 games, trailing Vic Hadfield's mark of 31 through 47 in 1971-72 by three goals, Adam Graves' 30 through 47 in 1993-94 by two goals, and Jaromir Jagr's mark of 29 through 47 in 2005-06 by one goal. Gaborik has notched 38 goals in his last 55 games, including 10 goals in his final 10 games of last season.
WINS LEADERS SINCE 2006-07 - Since the start of 2006-07, Henrik Lundqvist ranks sixth in the NHL with 132 wins, trailing Miikka Kiprusoff (147) by 15, Martin Brodeur(141) by nine, Roberto Luongo (138) and Evgeni Nabokov (138) by six, and Ryan Miller (136) by four.
RANGERS PROSPECTS HONORED - Two Rangers prospects - Dale Weise and Carl Hagelin - were honored this week by their respective leagues. Weise was named the Reebok/AHL Player of the Week for the period ending Jan. 10, tallying five goals in four games with Hartford during their four-game road trip. The Rangers fourth round choice, 111th overall, in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, Weise currently ranks second on Hartford in goals (15), third in points (29) and is tied for fifth in assists (14). Hagelin captured the Central Collegiate Hockey Association's (CCHA) Offensive Player of the Week honors for the period ending Jan. 10, registering a team-high two goals and three assists in Michigan's home-and-home series sweep against Western Michigan on Jan. 8-9. The Rangers sixth round choice, 168th overall, in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, Hagelin leads the Wolverines in goals (12), assists (13) and points (25).