Lightning at Rangers: Pregame News and Notes

Last game before the Olympics, let's see if the Rangers can give us a good showing.

NEW YORK RANGERS vs. TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING
Sunday, Feb. 14, 1:00 p.m.
Madison Square Garden • New York, NY
Rangers: 27-27-7 (61 pts.)
Lightning: 26-22-11 (63 pts.)
* All information through NHL games on Feb. 12

TONIGHT'S GAME:
The Rangers face-off against the Tampa Bay Lightning tomorrow at Madison Square Garden (1:00 p.m.), in their final contest before the Olympic break. The Blueshirts currently rank fourth in the Atlantic Division standings, and 11th in the Eastern Conference, with a record of 27-27-7 (61 pts.). The Rangers enter tomorrow's contest having defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins, 3-2, in overtime on Friday at Mellon Arena, the Rangers' first win at Pittsburgh since a 4-3 overtime victory on Nov. 17, 2007. The Lightning currently own a 26-22-11 (63 pts.) record to rank ninth in the Eastern Conference, entering their game today at the New York Islanders. Following the Olympic Break, the Rangers will resume their regular season schedule on Tuesday, Mar. 2, when they will face-off against the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Place (7:30 p.m.).

RANGERS PRACTICE SCHEDULE:
Head Coach John Tortorella will be available to the media at 11:00 a.m. in the Multi-Purpose room, located on the fifth floor of Madison Square Garden.
* Schedule and availability subject to change

BROADCAST INFORMATION:
* TV: MSG Network
12:30 p.m. - Rangers Pre-Game Show with Bill Pidto and Dave Maloney
1:00 p.m. - Rangers vs. Lightning
Broadcasters: Sam Rosen (Play-By-Play), Dave Maloney (Analyst), John Giannone (In-Game Reporter)
* Radio: 1050 ESPN Radio
12:30 p.m. - Rangers Pre-Game with Don LaGreca
1:00 p.m. - Rangers vs. Lightning
Broadcasters: Don LaGreca (Play-By-Play), Pete Stemkowski (Analyst)

RANGERS vs. LIGHTNING:
* All-Time: The Rangers are 35-27-5-3 all-time against the Lightning: 20-12-2-2 at home and 15-15-3-1 on the road.
* 2009-10: This is the third of four meetings between the Rangers and Lightning this season, and the second at Madison Square Garden. The Rangers own a 1-1-0 record thus far, including a 1-0-0 mark at home following an 8-2 win on Jan. 19 at MSG.
* Last Season: New York was 4-0-0 against Tampa Bay in 2008-09, and posted a record of 2-0-0 at home. Three of their four meetings last season were decided by one goal, including a 3-2 shootout victory on Nov. 26 at Tampa Bay.
* The Rangers rank 26th in the NHL at home with a record of 13-15-4 (30 pts.) in 32 games; the Lightning have posted a record of 9-15-5 (23 pts.) in 29 road games to rank 26th in the league, entering their contest today at the New York Islanders
* New York has posted a record of 6-6-3 vs. the Southeast Division; Tampa Bay has registered a 6-6-2 mark vs. the Atlantic Division, entering their contest today at the New York Islanders
* Henrik Lundqvist has posted a record of 1-1-0 with a 3.91 goals against average in two appearances vs. Tampa Bay this season; Lundqvist is 11-5-2 with a 2.03 goals against average and one shutout in 18 career regular season appearances vs. the Lightning
* Marian Gabork tied his career-high with four assists in the Rangers' 8-2 win vs. Tampa Bay on Jan. 19 vs. Tampa Bay, the most by a Ranger in a single game since Jaromir Jagr tallied four assists on Oct. 26, 2002 at Phoenix; Gaborik leads the Blueshirts with four assists/points in two games this season vs. the Lightning
* Forward Olli Jokinen leads the Rangers with 25 goals and 26 assists for 51 points in 50 career regular season contests vs. Tampa Bay
* Defenseman Wade Redden leads all team blueliners with eight goals and 16 assists for 24 points in 47 career regular season games vs. the Lightning
* Hats Off - Chris Drury notched his second career hat trick, and first as a Ranger, on Nov. 6, 2008 vs. Tampa Bay
* New York lists one former Lightning player on their roster: Vinny Prospal (2001-02 - 2002-03, 2005-06 - 2007-08, 2008-09)
* Tampa Bay lists no former Rangers on their roster

More after the jump.....

SPECIAL TEAMS:
* Power Play: The Rangers have converted at a 33.3% (six-for-18) success rate with the man advantage over the last four games. New York ranks 14th in the NHL with an 18.3% (42-229) success rate, including a 23.4% (30-128) success rate at home to rank fourth in the league. The Rangers notched one five-on-three goal in one chance on Wednesday vs. Nashville (0:57), and have now registered six goals in 12 five-on-three attempts (9:16). New York is two-of-five (4:30) with a four-on-three advantage this season. Shorthanded goals allowed (6): 10/26 (V. Fiddler); 12/12 (P. Kaleta); 12/14 (C. Armstrong); 12/26 (B. Comeau); 1/4 (M. Hunwick); 2/2 (A. Kopitar).
* Penalty Killing: The Rangers surrendered one goal to the Penguins in two shorthanded situations (2:36) in Friday's 3-2 overtime win at Mellon Arena, and are now 32-for-37 (86.5%) on the penalty kill in the last seven games. New York ranks sixth in the NHL with an 84.8% (212-250) success rate overall, and is tied for eighth with an 84.9% (107-126) success rate at MSG. The Rangers held the Devils scoreless in one five-on-three attempt on Feb. 6 at MSG, and have now yielded five goals in 19 three-on-five chances (13:00). New York is eight-of-nine (7:19) in three-on-four situations this season, and notched a three-on-four shorthanded goal on Jan. 17 vs. Montreal, the first for the team since Oct. 25, 1996 at Florida (Adam Graves). 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 has skated in 73 (105:10) four-on-four situations. Four-on-Four goals for (3): 10/8 (R. Callahan); 10/17 (B. Dubinsky); 2/12 (O. Jokinen). 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:

WHEN WE LAST MET - The following accomplishments were achieved in the Rangers' last meeting vs. the Lightning, an 8-2 victory on Jan. 19 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 Jan. 17 vs. Montreal; first period on Jan. 19 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 on 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

WINS LEADERS SINCE 2006-07 - Since the start of 2006-07, Henrik Lundqvist ranks sixth in the NHL with 136 wins, trailing Miikka Kiprusoff (150) by 14, Roberto Luongo (146), Evgeni Nabokov (146) and Martin Brodeur (146) by 10, and Ryan Miller (139) by three.

BLUESHIRT OLYMPIANS - The Blueshirts will have six 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, 2006 Winter Olympic Silver Medalist Olli Jokinen (3rd Olympic appearance - 2002, 2006) will represent Finland, 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:
* Olli Jokinen enters tomorrow's contest riding a two-game assist and point streak, tallying two assists and three points during the stretch
* Vinny Prospal enters tomorrow's contest riding a two-game goal and point streak, notching two goals over the span

MILESTONES IN SIGHT:
* Chris Drury: 1 point from 600 NHL career; 1 goal from 250 NHL career

RECENT MILESTONES ACHIEVED:
* Marian Gaborik: 500th career NHL point/250th career NHL goal, Jan. 31 at COL
* Chad Johnson: 1st career NHL win, Jan. 31 at COL

INJURIES:
None
Total Man-Games Lost: 52

RECENT TRANSACTIONS:
* Feb. 2: Acquired forwards Olli Jokinen and Brandon Prust from Calgary, in exchange for forwards Christopher Higgins and Ales Kotalik
* Feb. 10: Recalled defenseman Corey Potter from the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League (AHL)
* Feb. 11: Recalled goaltender Matt Zaba from the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League (AHL), and assigned defenseman Corey Potter and goaltender Chad Johnson to Hartford
* Feb. 12: Acquired forward Jody Shelley from San Jose, in exchange for a conditional draft pick in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft
* Feb. 13: Assigned forward Donald Brashear to the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League (AHL), and recalled defenseman Corey Potter from Hartford