Pittsburgh Penguins at New York Rangers GameDay News and Notes

NEW YORK RANGERS vs. PITTSBURGH PENGUINS
Monday, Jan. 25, 7:00 p.m.
Madison Square Garden • New York, NY
Rangers: 24-21-7 (55 pts.)
Penguins: 32-20-1 (65 pts.)


TONIGHT'S GAME:
The Rangers face-off against the Pittsburgh Penguins tomorrow at Madison Square Garden (7:00 p.m.), in a matchup between Atlantic Division rivals.  The Blueshirts currently rank fourth in the Atlantic Division standings, and seventh in the Eastern Conference, with a record of 24-21-7 (55 pts.).  The Rangers enter tomorrow's contest having been defeated by the Montreal Canadiens, 6-0, Saturday at the Bell Centre, and have now recorded a point in 14 of their last 19 contests (10-5-4).  The Penguins enter the contest with a 32-20-1 (65 pts.) record, and rank fourth in the Eastern Conference.  Following tomorrow's game, the Rangers will face-off against the Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday, Jan. 27, at Madison Square Garden (7:00 p.m.), in their fourth and final matchup this season.

RANGERS PRACTICE SCHEDULE:
The Blueshirts' morning skate is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. at the MSG Training Center.
* Schedule and availability subject to change

BROADCAST INFORMATION:
    * TV: Versus
      7:00 p.m. - Rangers vs. Penguins
      Broadcasters: Joe Beninati (Play-By-Play), Darren Eliot (Analyst), Billy Jaffe (In-Game Reporter)
    * Radio: 1050 ESPN Radio
      6:30 p.m. - Rangers Pre-Game with Kenny Albert
      7:00 p.m. - Rangers vs. Penguins
      Broadcasters: Kenny Albert (Play-By-Play), Dave Maloney (Analyst)

RANGERS vs. PENGUINS:

• All-Time: The Rangers are 110-95-23-6 all-time against the Penguins: 63-44-9-1 at home and 47-51-14-5 on the road.
• 2009-10: This is the fourth of six meetings between the Rangers and Penguins this season, and the second of three at Madison Square Garden.  The Rangers own a 0-3-0 record overall thus far, including a 0-1-0 mark at home, following a 5-2 loss on Nov. 30 at MSG.
• Last Season: New York were 3-3-0 against Pittsburgh in 2008-09, including a 3-0-0 mark at home.  Two of the Rangers three wins against the Penguins at MSG last season finished in the shootout, and the third was a shutout victory on Jan. 5 (4-0).The Rangers have posted a record of 12-11-4 (28 pts.) in 27 home games; the Penguins have posted a record of 17-11-0 (34 pts.) in 28 road games
• New York have posted a record of 3-8-2 vs. the Atlantic Division; Pittsburgh have registered a 9-6-0 mark vs. the Atlantic Division
• Henrik Lundqvist has posted a record of 0-2-0 with a 3.56 goals against average in two appearances vs. Pittsburgh this season; Lundqvist is 15-11-3 with a 2.35 goals against average and two shutouts in 29 career regular season appearances vs. the Penguins
• Chris Drury leads the team with 12 goals and 32 points in 36 career regular season contests vs. Pittsburgh; Wade Redden has tallied a team-high 22 assists in 53 career regular season appearances vs. the Penguins
• NHL Debuts - Michael Del Zotto and Matt Gilroy each made their NHL debut vs. Pittsburgh in the season opener on Oct. 2
• First Goals - Three Rangers players - Vinny Prospal (Mar. 8, 1997), Sean Avery (Mar. 2, 2002) and Brandon Dubinsky (Nov. 8, 2007) - recorded their first career NHL goal against Pittsburgh
• New York lists one former Penguin on their roster: Michal Rozsival (1999-00 - 2002-03)
• Pittsburgh lists one former Ranger on their roster: Pascal Dupuis (2006-07)

More after the jump.......

SPECIAL TEAMS:

• Power Play: The Rangers have tallied a power play goal in two of their last four games, registering a 20.0% (3-15) success rate during the stretch.  New York rank 13th in the NHL with an 18.8% (36-191) success rate, including a 22.9% (24-105) success rate at home tying for fifth 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). * Rankings are through games played on Jan. 23
• Penalty Killing: The Rangers notched a three-on-four shorthanded goal on Jan. 17 vs. Montreal, and have posted an 85.7% (36-42) success rate in their last 12 games.  New York rank fifth in the NHL with an 85.0% (176-207) success rate, and rank sixth with an 87.1% (88-101) success rate at MSG. The Rangers have surrendered four goals in 15 three-on-five (10:22) 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). * Rankings are through games played on Jan. 23
•  Four-on-Four: New York have skated in 64 (96:10) four-on-four situations. Four-on-Four goals for (2): 10/8 (R. Callahan); 10/17 (B. Dubinsky). Four-on-Four goals allowed (6): 10/24 (M. Cammalleri); 12/9 (D. Byfuglien); 12/17 (A. MacDonald); 1/2 (R. Whitney); 1/23 (S. Gomez and M. Cammalleri).

RANGERS NOTES:

FAMILIAR FOES - Henrik Lundqvist and Pittsburgh goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury have started in net against each other in 24 of their teams' last 31 meetings, dating back to a 2-1 Rangers win on Dec. 1, 2005.  Lundqvist has posted an 11-10-3 mark with a 2.51 goals against average, a .906 save percentage and one shutout head-to-head against Fleury.

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 (143) by nine, Evgeni Nabokov (142) and Roberto Luongo (142) by eight, 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: 1 game 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
    * Matt Zaba: 1st career NHL game, Jan. 23 at MTL

INJURIES:
None
Total Man-Games Lost: 51

RECENT TRANSACTIONS:
    * Jan. 11: Recalled goaltender Chad Johnson from Hartford (AHL), and assigned goaltender Matt Zaba to Hartford
    * Jan. 20: Recalled goaltender Matt Zaba from Hartford (AHL), and assigned goaltender Chad Johnson to Hartford