Rangers Face Pens in Division Showdown Minus Rick Nash
NEW YORK RANGERS (23-10-1) PITTSBURGH PENGUINS (20-7-5)
PPG Paints Arena, Pittsburgh, PA 7:00 PM TV: MSG2, RADIO: WEPN 98.7 FM NY
The battle for the top spot in the Metropolitan Division renews tonight when the Rangers take on the Penguins in Pittsburgh. The Rangers will be missing top scorer Rick Nash due to a groin injury. Nash who was previously out with the injury pulled the other side of his groin during the overtime period on his first shift against New Jersey on Sunday.
There's only two points separating the Rangers and Penguins so, the Rangers with a win can add to the lead and go up by four points or wind up in a tie with the Pens moving ahead of them as the season series is now tied.
The teams have split the season series so far in two previous meetings. The Rangers and Antti Raanta took the first game 5-2 in Pittsburgh over Marc Andre Fleury, the Pens and Matt Murray defeated the Rangers in a game split between Henrik Lundqvist and Raanta at MSG 6-1.
Coming into tonight's game the Rangers have won their last three games. Henrik Lundqvist has posted a 3-0 record with a 0.98 goals against average since returning to the lineup after Vigneault chose Annti Raanta for the start in the previous four. The Penguins have lost two in a row heading into tonight's contest.
NYR GAME DAY STATS:
NYR TEAM LEADERS:
GOALS: RICK NASH, MICHAEL GRABNER 13
ASSISTS: RYAN McDONAGH 17
POINTS: KEVIN HAYES 23
+/-: MICHAEL GRABNER +18
GWG: DAN GIRARDI, BRANDON PIRRI, JIMMY VESEY, KEVIN HAYES 3
PPG: RICK NASH, JIMMY VESEY, BRANDON PIRRI 4
PPP: RICK NASH, DEREK STEPAN, CHRIS KREIDER, JIMMY VESEY, RYAN McDONAGH, BRANDON PIRRI 6
WINS: HENRIK LUNDQVIST 15
GOALIE STATS:
HENRIK LUNDQVIST 15-8-1 GAA: 2.34 SV%: .920 SO: 1
ANTTI RAANTA 8-2-0 GAA: 1.67 SV%: .941 SO: 2
NYR TEAM STATS
23-10-1
2nd Overall NHL
1st Metropolitan Division
WINS: 23 (Rank #1)
POINTS: 47 (Rank #2)
WIN%: 0.691 (Rank #2)
GOALS FOR: 111 (Rank #1)
GOALS AGAINST: 74 (Rank #6)
POWER PLAY GOALS: 21 (Rank #9)
POWER PLAY RANK: 21.00 (Rank #9)
POWER PLAY GOALS AGAINST: 12 (Rank #2)
PENALTY KILL: 86.81 (Rank #4)
SHORT HANDED GOALS: 5 (Rank #2)
SHUTOUTS: 4 (Rank #2)
EMPTY NET GOALS: 6
SHOOTOUTS: 2/3
Lundqvist Named NHL Second Star of the Week
Henrik Lundqvist was named the NHL's Second Star for the week ending Dec. 18
Lundqvist went 3-0-0 with a 0.98 goals-against average and .967 save percentage to backstop the Eastern Conference-leading Rangers (23-10-1, 47 points) to six out of a possible eight standings points. He recorded 27 saves in a 2-0 win over the Dallas Stars Dec. 15, combining with Antti Raanta for the first joint shutout in franchise history. Lundqvist then earned back-to-back shootout victories, making 31 stops in a 2-1 triumph over the Nashville Predators Dec. 17 and 29 saves in a 3-2 victory over the New Jersey Devils Dec. 18. In doing so, the 34-year-old Are, Sweden, native - who owns a 15-8-1 record in 24 games this season (2.34 GAA, .920 SV%, 1 SO) - tied Dominik Hasek for the most wins by a European-goaltender in NHL history (389).
Chicago's Artemi Panarin was named the first star while Minnesota's Eric Staal was named the third.
NYR Alumni Birthdays December 20:
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