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New York Rangers Pregame

Rangers Pregame: Rangers at Canadiens News and Notes

NEW YORK RANGERS at MONTREAL CANADIENS
Saturday, Jan. 23, 7:00 p.m.

Bell Centre Montreal, Quebec

Rangers: 24-20-7 (55 pts.)
Canadiens: 23-23-5 (51 pts.)
* All information through NHL games on Jan. 21

TONIGHT'S GAME:
The Rangers face-off against the Montreal Canadiens tomorrow at the Bell Centre (7:00 p.m.), in a matchup between Original Six opponents. The Blueshirts currently rank third in the Atlantic Division standings, and sixth in the Eastern Conference, with a record of 24-20-7 (55 pts.). The Rangers enter tomorrow's contest having been defeated by the Philadelphia Flyers, 2-0, Thursday at the Wachovia Center, and have now recorded a point in 14 of their last 18 contests (10-4-4). The Canadiens enter the contest with a 23-23-5 (51 pts.) record, and rank 11th in the Eastern Conference. Following tomorrow's game, the Rangers will face-off against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday, Jan. 25, at Madison Square Garden (7:00 p.m.), in a matchup between Atlantic Division rivals.

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

BROADCAST INFORMATION:

  • TV: PIX 11
    7:00 p.m. - Rangers @ Canadiens
    Broadcasters: Sam Rosen (Play-By-Play), Joe Micheletti (Analyst), John Giannone (In-Game Reporter)
  • Radio: 1050 ESPN Radio
    6:30 p.m. - Rangers Pre-Game with Kenny Albert
    7:00 p.m. - Rangers @ Canadiens
    Broadcasters: Kenny Albert (Play-By-Play), Dave Maloney (Analyst)

RANGERS vs. CANADIENS:

  • All-Time: The Rangers are 188-313-94-3 all-time against the Canadiens: 124-120-54-1 at home and 64-193-40-2 on the road.
  • 2009-10: This is the third of four meetings between the Rangers and Canadiens this season, and the second at the Bell Centre. The Rangers own a 1-0-1 record thus far following a 6-2 win on Sunday at MSG, and are 0-0-1 on the road.
  • Last Season: New York were 2-2-0 against Montreal in 2008-09, including a 1-1-0 mark at the Bell Centre. The Rangers out-shot the Canadiens, 145-118, in the season series, and registered 40+ shots in two of the games.
  • The Rangers rank 12th in the NHL on the road with a record of 12-9-3 (27 pts.) in 24 games; the Canadiens have posted a record of 11-11-4 (26 pts.) in 26 home games to rank 25th in the league
  • New York have posted a record of 9-2-1 vs. the Northeast Division; Montreal have registered a 5-5-1 mark vs. the Atlantic Division
  • Henrik Lundqvist has posted a record of 1-0-1 with a 3.41 goals against average in two appearances vs. Montreal this season; Lundqvist is 10-4-2 with a 2.88 goals against average and one shutout in 17 career regular season appearances vs. the Canadiens
  • Vinny Prospal leads the team with 15 goals and 34 points in 44 career regular season contests vs. Montreal; Wade Redden has tallied a team-high 23 assists in 64 career regular season appearances vs. the Canadiens
  • A Game of Firsts - Wade Redden notched a goal in his NHL debut on Oct. 5, 1996 vs. Montreal
  • New York lists two former Canadiens on their roster: Donald Brashear (1993-94 - 1996-97); Christopher Higgins (2003-04 - 2008-09)
  • Montreal lists two former Rangers on their roster: Scott Gomez (2007-08 - 2008-09); Paul Mara (2006-07 - 2008-09)

SPECIAL TEAMS:

  • Power Play: The Rangers have tallied a power play goal in two of their last three games, registering a 23.1% (3-13) success rate during the stretch. New York rank 12th in the NHL with a 19.0% (36-189) success rate, including a 14.3% (12-84) success rate on the road to rank 22nd 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 notched a three-on-four shorthanded goal on Sunday vs. Montreal, and have held their opponents scoreless on the man advantage in seven of their last 11 games, posting an 89.1% (33-37) success rate over the span. New York rank fourth in the NHL with an 85.6% (173-202) success rate, and are tied for seventh with an 84.2% (85-101) success rate away from MSG. The Rangers have surrendered three goals in 14 three-on-five (9:38) attempts, and are seven of eight (6:47) when three-on-four. Shorthanded goals for (5): 10/3 (B. Dubinsky); 10/11 (D. Girardi); 11/14 (V. Prospal); 12/23 (M. Gaborik); 1/17 (B. Dubinsky).
  • Four-on-Four: New York have skated in 61 (90:19) 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:

A NIGHT TO REMEMBER - The following accomplishments were achieved in the Rangers 8-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday at Madison Square Garden:

  • The first time the Rangers registered eight-or-more goals in a game since Jan. 23, 2002 vs. Boston (8-4)
  • Tallied six-or-more goals in back-to-back games for the first time since the 2006-07 season (Mar. 31 at Philadelphia, 6-4; Apr. 1 vs. Toronto, 7-2)
  • Tallied six-or-more goals in back-to-back games at MSG for the first time since the 2003-04 season (Nov. 12 vs. Pittsburgh, 6-2; Nov. 23 vs. Ottawa, 6-2)
  • Notched three goals per period in three straight periods (second and third periods on Sunday vs. Montreal; first period on Tuesday vs. Tampa Bay) for the first time since they did it in four straight periods during the 1998-99 season (third period of a 6-6 tie on Nov. 17 at Toronto; first, second and third periods of a 10-2 win on Nov. 10 at Tampa Bay)
  • Had 16 players register at least one point, tying the franchise record for most players with at least one point in a game, accomplished twice before (Oct. 25, 1984 at New Jersey, 11-2; Feb. 17, 1985 vs. the NY Islanders, 9-3)
  • Had eight different players tally a goal for the first time since a 10-5 win on Dec. 13, 1992 vs. Montreal (Tony Amonte, Steven King, James Patrick, Doug Weight - 2, Alexei Kovalev, Sergei Nemchinov - 2, Mark Messier, and Mike Gartner)
  • Marian Gaborik tied his career-high (last - Oct. 26, 2002 at Phoenix) and set a Rangers season-high with four assists, the most by a Ranger in a single game since Jaromir Jagr recorded four assists on Feb. 17, 2008 vs. Montreal

ORIGINAL SIX SINCE 2005-06 - New York have posted a record of 37-17-10 (84 pts.) against Original Six opponents since the 2005-06 season, including a 10-5-3 mark vs. Montreal over the span. The Rangers' .656% winning percentage ranks second, trailing Detroit (.704%, 32-12-5) and ahead of Montreal (.614%, 52-31-9), Boston (.516%, 41-38-13), Toronto (.505%, 39-38-16), and Chicago (.462%, 21-25-6).

A NORTHEAST FEAST - The Rangers have posted a record of 9-2-1 (19 pts.) against the Northeast Division, and have out-scored their opponents, 39-22, in 12 games this season.  New York's penalty kill has surrendered just three goals in 45 shorthanded chances for a 93.3% success rate.

RARE GOAL - Brandon Dubinsky tallied a three-on-four shorthanded goal at 8:28 of the second period in Sunday's 6-2 win vs. Montreal at MSG, marking the first time a Ranger notched a goal in that situation since Adam Graves on Oct. 25, 1996 at Florida (L, 4-6).

WINS LEADERS SINCE 2006-07 - Since the start of 2006-07, Henrik Lundqvist ranks sixth in the NHL with 134 wins, trailing Miikka Kiprusoff (147) by 13, Martin Brodeur (142) by eight, Evgeni Nabokov (141) and Roberto Luongo (141) by seven, and Ryan Miller (137) by three.

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 (3rd Olympic appearance - 2002, 2006) and Ryan Callahan (1st Olympic appearance) will represent the United States, 2006 Winter Olympic Gold Medalist Henrik Lundqvist (2nd Olympic appearance - 2006) will represent Sweden and Marian Gaborik (2nd Olympic appearance - 2006) will represent Slovakia. Hartford Wolf Pack forward Andres Ambuhl (2nd Olympic appearance - 2006), who signed with the Rangers on May 27, will represent Switzerland. 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.

RANGERS STREAKS:

  • No active streaks

MILESTONES IN SIGHT:

  • Ryan Callahan: 2 games from 200 NHL career
  • Chris Drury: 3 points from 600 NHL career

RECENT MILESTONES ACHIEVED:

  • Brandon Dubinsky: 100th career NHL point, Jan. 4 vs. BOS
  • Brandon Dubinsky: 200th career NHL game, Jan. 6 vs. DAL
  • Chad Johnson: 1st career NHL assist/point, Jan. 7 at ATL
  • Michal Rozsival: 600th career NHL game, Jan. 9 at BOS

INJURIES:
None
Total Man-Games Lost: 51

RECENT TRANSACTIONS:

  • Jan. 20: Recalled goaltender Matt Zaba from Hartford (AHL), and assigned goaltender Chad Johnson to Hartford

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