Goals: NYR Zuccarello 11 --- EDM Hall 12
Shots: NYR Nash 79 --- EDM Hall 122
Hits: NYR Girardi 67 --- EDM Hendricks 57
Assists: NYR Yandle 13 --- EDM Hall 18
RNYRF GAME NIGHT LOWDOWN:
New York Rangers 2nd Place Metro Division
19-8-3 39 pts
Edmonton Oilers 7th Place Pacific Division
12-15-2 26 pts
Goaltending Matchup:
NYR Henrik Lundqvist (CONFIRMED) 14-6-3-2 GAA 1.99 SV% .937
EDM Anders Nilsson (UNCONFIRMED) 9-7-0-1 GAA 2.51 SV% .908
RANGERS @ OILERS PREGAME NOTES: via NHL
Oilers to honor Sather prior to playing Rangers
TV: MSG, SNW
Season series: The New York Rangers and Edmonton Oilers each won a game in their opponent's arena last season. Oilers forwards Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Benoit Pouliot each had a goal and an assist in a 3-1 win at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 9, 2014. Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist made 16 saves in a 2-0 win at Rexall Place on Dec. 14, 2014. Defenseman Dan Girardi had the decisive goal.
Rangers team scope: Lundqvist will start in goal, coach Alain Vigneault confirmed Thursday following practice. He entered games Thursday leading the NHL in save percentage (.937) and second in goals-against average (1.99). He's given up four goals in his past three starts but has a 1-1-1 record to show for it. Girardi, who was dinged up blocking a shot Wednesday in a 2-1 loss to the Vancouver Canucks, watched practice Thursday but said he is ready to play, and Vigneault said he will be in the lineup. New York currently is not carrying a seventh defenseman with Kevin Klein (oblique) out. The Rangers have been held to a single goal in three of four games in December but still ranked seventh in the League entering Thursday at 2.76 goals per game.
Oilers team scope: Edmonton is attempting to put together its first five-game winning streak since March 26-April 3, 2013. Pouliot, who has missed the entire winning streak because of a lower-body injury, practiced Thursday, as did defenseman Andrew Ference (undisclosed), who has missed six straight games. Forward Teddy Purcell wasn't at practice; his absence was termed a maintenance day. Defenseman Nikita Nikitin was recalled from Bakersfield of the American Hockey League after defenseman Mark Fayne cleared waivers and was assigned to the AHL. Nikitin, 29, has one goal and nine points in 14 AHL games. He had four goals and 10 points in 42 games last season for the Oilers. Forward Jordan Eberle has a goal in three straight games. "I know the kind of player I can be … it's nice it's finally starting to come," he told the Oilers website. Glen Sather, who as president, general manager and coach led the Oilers to five Stanley Cup titles, will be honored during a banner-raising ceremony prior to the game. Sather was with the Oilers from 1979-2000 before joining the Rangers as president and GM; he stepped down as GM this summer, replaced by Jeff Gorton.
W2W4: Rangers vs. Oilers 12.11.15
Who: New York Rangers vs. Edmonton Oilers
Where: Rexall Place
When: Friday night at 9:30 PM
Watch: MSG Network beginning at 8:00 PM with Glen Sather banner raising ceremony
Listen: ESPN-98.7 FM and NewYorkRangers.com
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The Skinny:
It will be a special night Friday evening when the Rangers (18-8-3, 39 pts) face off with the Edmonton Oilers (12-15-2, 26 pts) in Western Canada. Prior to the game, current Rangers President Glen Sather will have a banner raised to honor his successful tenure as head coach, general manager and team president with the Oilers, one in which he had his hands in on five Stanley Cup championships over a seven-year span, the only five Edmonton has ever won. Then once the game actually begins, Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault will be coaching in his 1,000th career NHL contest, becoming the 23rd man to ever achieve this feat in the history of the National Hockey League. He is the first ever to do so while standing behind the bench of the Rangers when he reached that milestone; and only two other men who have coached the Rangers also reached the 1,000 game milestone—Roger Neilson and Mike Keenan. Of course there are two important points on the line for both teams, with the Rangers trying to right themselves following Wednesday's frustrating 2-1 loss in Vancouver that opened up this three-game road trip out west. The Rangers are just 2-5-1 in their last eight games, and then have scored only seven goals—including one or fewer five times—in those six defeats. The only goal New York scored on Wednesday was a third-period penalty shot goal by Dan Boyle, even though in the first two periods in particular the Rangers had a string of very good scoring chances. Vigneault pointed out after practice on Thursday that he liked a lot of what his team did in the Vancouver game and that overall the Rangers all-around game is coming along. He also said a big difference lately is that his team is not scoring early in games and putting the opposition on its heels right away as they did so often earlier in the season. Henrik Lundqvist, who made 23 saves in Wednesday's defeat, will start in goal again for the Rangers. Defenseman Dan Girardi, who missed practice Thursday to ice his bruised leg, will play in Edmonton. Up front Vigneault said he was not 100 percent certain if Emerson Etem, a healthy scratch in Vancouver, might be in the lineup or not. The Oilers come in having won four straight following Wednesday's 4-3 overtime victory over the San Jose Sharks, a game in which Taylor Hall scored the OT game-winner. Those four wins—two in overtime, one in a shootout and one in regulation--have kick started a so-far perfect month of December for the Oilers, and as a result Edmonton is now only four points behind second-place Vancouver in the Pacific Division despite a sub-.500 record, a -10 goal differential and string of injuries to the likes of wonderkid Connor MacDavid, veteran defenseman Brad Ferrence, former Ranger Benoit Pouliot and skilled forward Nail Yakupov. Pouliot and Ferrence are practicing again and their individual returns to the Oilers lineup are growing closer. Edmonton has used 27 different skaters and two goalies already this season for a total of 29 players that have worn the Oilers sweater in 29 games this season.The Rangers likely will not see another former Blueshirt play on Friday, but not because of injury. Goaltender Cam Talbot, Edmonton's No. 1 goalie when the season started, has been relegated to back up status after a shaky start to his first year in Edmonton. He has a 3.17 GAA and .889 save percentage so far in 13 appearances this season. Former Islander Anders Nilsson has started the previous six games in goal for the Oilers, and has won five of those starts.
Head To Head:
The Rangers and Oilers will wrap up their 2015-16 season series in matter of five days, facing off Friday in Edmonton and then again next Tuesday at Madison Square Garden. Last year the Rangers and Henrik Lundqvist shut out the Oilers at Rexall Place 2-0 on December 14, and New York has now earned at least one point in 14 of its last 18 games played in Edmonton dating back to the 1988-89 season. Dan Girardi scored in the first period last December in Edmonton to notch the game-winning goal. The Rangers have won by shutout in each of their last two visits to Edmonton, also skating to a 5-0 victory on March 30, 2014 with Cam Talbot—who is now a member of the Oilers—tending goal for New York.
Players To Watch:
Rangers-Keith Yandle: Over the past week or two defenseman Keith Yandle has begun to stand out on a regular basis, clearly looking to make a difference offensively from the back end—the exact reason why the Rangers dealt for him at the trade deadline last season. Yandle is hopping into the play much more often and with much seeming confidence as of late, often leading the rush when the time is right. Though it has resulted in only two assists over the past five games, Yandle's more aggressive offensive play clearly will pay bigger dividends if he keeps it up, and already could have paid off in a bigger fashion if not for some bad puck luck on shots which hit iron or passes to open teammates that just did not quite end up with goals as a result. Yandle had a game-high nine shot attempts Wednesday in Vancouver, and he logged 21:18 worth of ice time, second most on the team. In three of his last seven games Yandle has recorded five shots on goal, and in four of those games he's played north of twenty minutes. Yandle is forming a solid defense pairing with rookie Dylan McIlrath at even strength since the injured Kevin Klein has been absent from the lineup; and Yandle has been a key contributor on the Rangers power play, which has registered eight goals in the past ten games. Yandle's eight points and seven assists on the power play lead New York this season, and his overall 13 assists leads the team while his 14 points are tops among Rangers defensemen. In 34 career games against the Oilers Yandle has registered 20 points (6-14-20) including ten in his last games against Edmonton.
Oilers-Leon Draisaitl: While so much attention in Edmonton is focused on several first overall draft selections currently playing for the team-- Connor MacDavid, Taylor Hall, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Nail Yakupov—the one recent high draft pick of the Oilers flying under the radar despite some quality play this season is 20 year-old German-born Leon Draisaitl. Selected third overall in the 2014 NHL Draft, Draisaitl has been scoring at better than a point-per-game pace in this, his second year, in the NHL. Draisaitl Has scored nine goals, added 13 assists and totaled 22 points in just 19 games so far, after scoring twice and finishing with nine points in 37 games as a rookie a year ago. He is currenlty second on the Oilers in scoring and tied for second in assists despite missing ten games. Draisaitl scored a goal and added an assist in Wednesday's overtime victory over San Jose, and he enters play with a three-game point-scoring streak. He got off to a torrid start this year, opening with three goals and seven points in his first three games, and later in November had a five-game scoring streak in which he totaled four goals and ten points. Needless to say he is an explosive offensive talent, and one that the Rangers can not ignore Friday.
The last time the Oilers and Rangers faced each other was on December 14
th
in Edmonton, where the Rangers shutout the Oilers 2-0.
NYR Alumni Birthday 12/11; Dave Gagner C (1984-1987),Ted Hampson C (1960-1963), Bill Regan D (1930-1931), Dave Richardson LW (1963-1965), Steve Richmond D (1984-1985)
TODAY IN NYR HISTORY December 11
1992: The Rangers play their first game in Tampa Bay, and defeat the Lightning, 5-4. Brian Leetch tallies three assists and Mark Messier, James Patrick, and Darren Turcotte each record a goal and an assist.
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