Rangers Recap: Hedberg leads Thrashers past Rangers 5-3
News and Notes from the Rangers:
NEW YORK RANGERS POST-GAME NOTES AND QUOTES
November 12, 2009 - New York Rangers 3, Atlanta Thrashers 5 (Game #19, Home #9)
Click Here For The Official Game Summary
- The Rangers were defeated by the Atlanta Thrashers, 5-3, in front of a sold-out crowd (18,200) at Madison Square Garden to drop to 10-8-1 (21 pts.) on the season and 6-3-0 at home.
- New York have sold out 165 consecutive regular season games, dating back to Nov. 5, 2005 against New Jersey; the last regular season non-sellout was Oct. 31, 2005 vs. Montreal (17,697); including the playoffs, the Rangers sellout streak is now at 179 games.
- The Rangers are 14-4-0 in their last 18 regular season games at MSG, and have out-scored their opponents, 63-36, during the stretch.
- New York out-shot Atlanta, 36-27, including an 18-5 advantage in the third period; the Rangers 18 shots in the final frame marked a season-high for shots in a single period.
- Marian Gaborik registered his eighth multi-point effort on the season with one goal and one assist, and led all skaters with seven shots in 26:02 of icetime; he has recorded a point in 15 of 17 games this season, including seven goals and 12 points in his last eight contests.
- Michael Del Zotto and Ales Kotalik each recorded two assists for the Rangers, including one power play assist apiece.
- Donald Brashear skated in his 1,000th NHL game; he made his NHL debut on Nov. 15, 1993 at Ottawa.
- Rookie center Artem Anisimov tallied the Rangers first goal at 4:08 of the first period, and won 10 of 15 (67%) faceoffs; Brian Boyle closed New York's scoring with his second of the season at 6:18 of the third period.
- Christopher Higgins recorded an assist on Boyle's third period goal while skating in his 300th NHL game; he now has three points (two goals and one assist) in the last four games.
- Vinny Prospal led all skaters with 27:52 of icetime and 20 faceoff wins; Ryan Callahan delivered a team-high six hits.
- The Rangers practice schedule for tomorrow, Nov. 13, is 12:00 p.m. at the MSG Training Center.
- The Rangers return to action on Saturday, Nov. 14, when they will face-off against the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Place (2:00 p.m.), in a matinee matchup; the game will be televised live on MSG Network and can be heard on 1050 ESPN Radio.
POST-GAME QUOTES
John Tortorella on the team's play after not playing for four nights...
"I think you just work yourself out of it. Again, it is something all coaches and all teams try to figure out how to get through that part, just fighting through the staleness you have a little bit after a trip like that. By no means is it an excuse but it happens. It happens to teams. I thought we worked through it. I thought we played a really good third period.
Henrik Lundqvist on giving up the early goal...
"We get a good start and they put it in the net. After that, we regrouped pretty well. It is tough to let in a goal like that right away...you get on your heels. We were 1-1 after the first. What killed us was the last five minutes of the second period. We played a great third period. The guys played really hard. We hit the post a couple of times. It was close, but it just wasn't enough tonight."
Ryan Callahan on playing without Chris Drury and Brandon Dubinsky...
"Obviously they are big players for our PKs (penalty kills). Some of our guys stepped up and guys did good on the PK (penalty kill), but we have to stay out of the box."
