NYR TODAY WEDNESDAY MARCH 9th

NEW YORK RANGERS @ BUFFALO SABRES POST GAME MORNING REVIEW:

 
BLUESHIRTS HOLD ON FOR ROAD WIN IN BUFFALO
@RNYRF Staff Report
 
Despite another inconsistent defensive game by the boys in blue the Rangers held on to defeat the Buffalo Sabres "Young Guns" in regulation. 
Derek Brassard opened the scoring on the Rangers Power Play with his 24th goal of the season off a beautiful feed from line mate Mats Zuccarello. The Rangers took the one goal lead into the second period adding to the lead at 4:38 and 6:05 of the period on goals by  Mats Zuccarello and Jesper Fast to take a 3-0 lead over the Sabres. Fast's 10th of the season chased Buffalo's Robin Lehner form between the pipes, replaced by Chad Johnson. The Rangers allowed two unanswered goals by Buffalo's Sam Reinhart at the midway point of the period and what seemed to be a "soft" goal given up by Raanta to Johan Larsson with just under 4:00 left in the period. Heading into the 3rd Period leading 3-2 the Rangers held on for the next 19:00 minutes until Winger J.T. Miller put the Rangers ahead for good with an empty net goal just under a minute after the Sabres opted to pull goalter Johnson for the extra skater. Rangers goaltender Antti Raanta put in a solid performance for the Rangers with a 34 save night in his third start replacing the injured Henrik Lundqvist.
The win was the Rangers 11th straight following a loss in the previous game this season which is the longest in 1 season in team history.

Center Derick Brassard continued his scoring ways versus the Sabres tallying his 8th point in 2 games vs Buffalo so far this season. Brassard's 24th goal and 26th gives him a team leading 50 points on the season.

The Rangers now have taken a two games to none lead and Sabres once again meet on April 2nd at Madison Square Garden to close out the 3 game season series.

Injury Update:
Henrik Lundqvist and Rick Nash skated on their own again yesterday while the rest of the team were in Buffalo. Lundqvist stated that he should be ready for either the Rangers next game in Detroit on Saturday or Sunday back at home versus Pittsburgh but feels he will return this weekend. Rick Nash is said to be progressing and is possible to return to the lineup sometime after this weekends back to back games. Defenseman Marc Staal missed his 3rd game in a row due to back spasms and is still being listed as day to day. In other injury news rookie D-man Dylan McIlrath was pushed back from day to day status to a week plus for his return with a knee injury.

The Rangers return to action on Saturday facing off against the Red Wings in Detroit. In their previous meeting the Rangers defeated Detroit at Madison Square Garden 1-0. Henrik Lundqvist backstopped the Rangers with 22 saves and the lone goal of the game was scored by Rangers defenseman Kevin Klein.

NYR Alumni Birthdays 3/9 
Radek Dvorak RW (1999-2003) Jim Krulicki LW (1970-1971)

TODAY IN NYR HISTORY MARCH
1996: Brian Leetch establishes a franchise record for assists by a defenseman, passing Ron Greschner with his 432nd helper in a 6-1 win over Washington.

2008: Henrik Lundqvist ties John Vanbiesbrouck on the Rangers' all-time shutout list following a 1-0 win over Boston at Madison Square Garden. The shutout is the 16th of his career.

2014: Henrik Lundqvist  makes 30 saves in a shutout victory over Detroit. The win is Lundqvist's 300th of his NHL career, while the shutout tied him with Eddie Giacomin for most in franchise history with 49.