Rangers Recap: Rangers defeat Capitals 3-2
NEW YORK RANGERS POST-GAME NOTES AND QUOTES
September 24, 2009 - New York Rangers 3, Washington Capitals 2 (Pre-Season: Game #6, Home #3)
Click Here For The Official Game Summary
- The Rangers closed out the home portion of their 2009-10 pre-season schedule with a 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals tonight at Madison Square Garden.
- The Blueshirts' penalty kill held the Capitals scoreless in five power play opportunities, and tallied one shorthanded goal at 0:36 of the second period.
- After a scoreless first period, Marian Gaborik opened the game's scoring with an unassisted shorthanded goal in the opening minute of the middle frame; He finished the contest with a game-high, two goals and three points, and now has four points (two goals and two assists) in two pre-season games; Gaborik also registered a team-high, four shots on net and logged 19:41 of icetime, a team-high among forwards.
- Henrik Lundqvist turned aside 23 of 25 shots to record his second win of the pre-season; Lundqvist has registered a 1.59 goals against average and a .942 save percentage in four pre-season appearances.
- Christopher Higgins notched the go-ahead goal with 70 seconds remaining in regulation to give the Rangers their third straight win; He also added an assist and registered a plus-two rating in 19:13 of icetime.
- Vinny Prospal recorded one assist and won seven of 13 faceoffs (54%); he is now tied for second on the Rangers in pre-season scoring with four points (one goal and three assists) in four games.
- Brandon Dubinsky tallied one assist and won 11 of 17 faceoffs (65%) for the Blueshirts in his pre-season debut.
- The Blueshirts' practice schedule for tomorrow, September 25, is 12:00 p.m. at the MSG Training Center.
- The Ranges return to action on Sunday, September 27, when they will face-off against the Washington Capitals at the Verizon Center (12:00 p.m.), to wrap up their 2009-10 pre-season schedule; the game will be televised live on MSG Network.
Post game quotes after the jump!
John Tortorella on Brandon Dubinsky...
"We all know he didn't want to be sitting out. I wish he didn't miss any time (in training camp). I think he has a little extra incentive and is happy to be back playing. I thought he played very well in a lot of different situations."
Christopher Higgins on the game-winning goal...
"Dubi (Brandon Dubinsky) took it in deep. I was just trying to go to the net, draw defenders to me. Dubi had a great play, he was getting around them. It just fell on my stick. It wasn't the prettiest goal but I guess we will take it with a minute left."
Brandon Dubinsky on Marian Gaborik and Christopher Higgins...
"Obviously those guys have great skill and they are great players. I have not been here the whole time so it is going to take me a little bit of time to get used to playing with those guys. I haven't been practicing with them at all so this was the first time (we played together) tonight. We found a way to get a couple of goals which was great. Hopefully we will be able to practice together and get to know each other."
