1934: Rangers acquire Dave Kerr from the Montreal Maroons.
2006: Henrik Lundqvist plays against his twin brother, Joel, for the first time in an NHL game, and makes 43 saves as the Rangers defeat the Dallas Stars, 5-2.
On Saturday against Calgary, the Rangers were down 2-1, 3-1, 4-1, 4-2 and 4-3 before tying the score at 4 late in the third period to force overtime.
Alain Vigneault said that the Rangers showed the same resilience against Calgary that they did against Edmonton before losing both games.
Dan Boyle said that he didn't garner much satisfaction over the comebacks, saying that they shouldn't have been in that position in the first place.
He added, "our D zone coverage probably cost us pretty much every game."
Ryan McDonagh said that he was proud of how the Rangers battled and that they "could have just folded and packed it in and said lets go home."
He added that "we are very competitive and regardless of how it looks out there at times, we want to win bad and we are trying our best. As far as the last game we could have just folded but we are pretty motivated to try until the bitter end."
Adam Rotter: I don't think anyone questions the compete level, the work ethic or the Rangers will to win, it's just that their execution and recent propensity for leaving players open in front of the net is not allowing them to win. The turnovers have been a problem all season, managed at times, but still an issue.
One thing to consider though about the Rangers comebacks is that they did against the 30th ranked team in goals allowed per game (Calgary) and the team ranked 25th (Edmonton). You can only play the team on the ice with you but if the Rangers were playing against better teams these comebacks would have been much tougher to accomplish.
Then, at 17:39 of the second period, Keith Yandle tried to make a cross-ice pass from deep in his zone that was intercepted by Johnny Gaudreau.
Two seconds later, at 17:41, Gaudreau ripped a shot past Antti Raanta to tie the game.
At 17:53, with the puck in the Calgary zone, Dan Girardi attempted a pass to Ryan McDonagh that didn't have enough on it and was intercepted by Michael Frolik.
Frolik skated the puck into the Rangers zone, where he fed Mason Raymond on a 2-on-1 to score at 17:58 and give Calgary the lead.
Adam Rotter: The Yandle play was the exact kind of low percentage play that Yandle makes. That is Yandle's game for better or worse. If he connects on that pass, the Rangers probably end up with a good scoring chance. Instead the Rangers end up with the puck in the back of their net. The Girardi play looked more like bad luck and a soft pass whereas the Yandle play was much higher risk.
- BEAT Vancouver 5-1
- BEAT Edmonton 2-0
- BEAT Calgary 5-2
- LOST to Vancouver 2-1
- LOST to Edmonton 7-5
- LOST to Calgary 4-3
Ryan McDonagh said on MSG after the game last night, "this wasn't how you anticipated the trip going. We come off a good home win before this trip and had some confidence and thought our game was heading in the right direction. Didn't foresee just coming away with one point."
Adam Rotter: Well, this had to be pretty much the exact opposite of how the Rangers hoped this trip would go. They managed the puck poorly, left player after player open in front, missed defensive assignments, messed up on routine plays, gave up goals right after scoring and just looked unrecognizable at times. The positives to take out of this trip are very few and far between. Some guys broke scoring droughts and Dylan McIlrath continues to look like an NHL player are probably the big ones/only ones to take away.
- On the game, "you look at the positive side and it's a couple of games in a row where we haven't quit and battled back and made a game of it but at the same time it's very easy to pinpoint where we need to improve. Our support and puck management got us in trouble tonight. They are a skilled team and made us pay. Our guys battled back and unfortunately we weren't able to get it done in OT."
- On what changed after the good start, "I just told you. It was a text book road game where we are playing how we are supposed to and a lack of support and puck management and they score two quick ones and they score two early ones off the hop in the third."
- On the comeback, "we showed the same resilience in Edmonton where we came back twice and I will repeat myself, our mistake are very easily correctable and we are going to work at it."
- Is the team fragile at times, "I don't think we are fragile. It's got nothing to do with confidence, just execution and support. Two different things. Thanks, guys."
He said that they have lost too many games and that this is an issue the whole team is dealing with. (Daily News)
Zuccarello added, "we've got to look ourselves in the mirror here. We can talk, but I think everyone in here knows this is not good enough at all." (Daily News)
Marc Staal aid that the Rangers are in unfamiliar territory and that they are used to "winning and winning consistently." (NY Post)
He said that that usually the Rangers find ways to turn things around after a couple of games but "certainly not two weeks." (NY Post)
Staal said that the Rangers "have to find a way to reverse this." (NY Post)
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