Mac Skap Earns First Shutout and Downs Buffalo

Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports

Mac Skap strikes again! NY Ranger backup goaltender Mackenzie Skapski, whom I have dubbed Mac Skap, started just the second NHL game of his young career, and recorded his first NHL shutout.

The last time he played the Buffalo Sabres, Mac Skap gave up a fluke goal 14 seconds into the contest on a Ranger giveaway deep in their zone. He then proceeded to shut out Buffalo for the rest of the game. So if you add up both games, Mac Skap has an unscored upon streak of 119:46 out of 120 minutes. He made some very good saves and seemed much calmer then the first time he played the Sabres.

Coach Alain Vigneault has now started Mac Skap twice against the Sabres, but the luxury of starting your 20 year old backup against the worst team in the league is over now, as there are no more games against the Sabres on the Blueshirts schedule.

But these two games started by Skap helped give some much needed rest to Cam Talbot who has filled in superbly for Henrik Lundqvist, while the “King” has been out with a vascular injury. With back to back games this weekend and the Blackhawks in town on Wednesday, Cam needed this rest and with it, he will be fresh for the Panthers at MSG for a 5:00PM face off.

Keith Yandle scored his first goal as a Broadway Blueshirt and his fifth overall on the season, with a good hard wrist shot from above the circles that eluded Anders Lindback for the first goal of the season. Marty St. Louis stole the puck very late in the game and sealed it with an empty net goal.

The Rangers are tied with the Montreal Canadiens, Nashville Predators, and Anaheim Ducks with 43 wins and 93 points apiece, but because the Rangers have played only 67 games and only lost 17 games, they are the number one team in the NHL.

Scoring:

NYR: Keith Yandle (5), Assisted by Marty St. Louis & Chris Kreider

NYR: Marty St. Louis (20), ENG, Unassisted

Team Stats                              NYR                              BUF

Shots on Goal                         33                                  20

Power Play                              0 for 3                           0 for 3

Hits                                         12                                  22

Face Off Wins                        34                                  19

Giveaways                              5                                    3

Takeaways                             2                                    5

Blocked Shots                         4                                    18

Goalie Stats:

Anders Lindback: 31 Saves on 32 Shots for a SV% of .969

Mackenzie Skapski: 20 Saves on 20 Shots for a SV% of 1.000

3 Stars of the Game

3^rd Star: Anders Lindback: 31 Saves on 32 Shots for a SV% of .969

2^nd Star: Mackenzie Skapski: 20 Saves on 20 Shots for a SV% of 1.000

1^st Star: Keith Yandle: 1 Goal (game winner)

Broadway Bits:

The Rangers are 13-1-3 in their last 17 games

The Rangers stand atop the NHL in points percentage (.694), are tied for first in wins (43), points (93) and regulation/OT wins (40). They also rank third in the NHL in goals against per game (2.27)

The Blueshirts lead the NHL with 11 shut outs and all three of their goalies; Lundqvist, Talbot and Skapski have at least one each

The Rangers are 19-5-1 in their last 25 road games. They also lead the NHL in road wins (22), regulation/OT wins on the road (21), and road points percentage (.676) and are tied for first in the NHL in road points (46)

The Blueshirts have scored first in 41 of 67 games this season and they have a record of 33-5-3 in those 41 games

For the first time since 2002-03, the Rangers have three goalies with at least two victories each. The goalies then, were: Mike Dunham, Dan Blackburn and Mike Richter

The Penalty Kill was once again perfect, as they went 3 for 3 against the Sabres and are 101 for 118 (85.6%) over their last 43 games

They Rangers won 34 of 53 face offs versus Buffalo (64.2%)

Keith Yandle scored a goal, had three shots on goal and posted a plus 1 rating in 18:34 of ice time

Marty St. Louis recorded two points: a goal and an assist, had two shots on goal and posted a plus 2 rating

MS has also scored 20 goals in a season for the 11^th time in his storied NHL career

Chris Kreider gained an assist on the Keith Yandle goal, had two shots on goal, dished out two hits and posted a plus 2 rating in 16:54 of ice time

The Rangers return to NYC and will host the Florida Panthers at MSG on Sunday at 5:00PM

The Rangers stand at 43-17-7 for 93 points

They are 3 points ahead of the Islanders and have 4 games in hand

They are 5 points ahead of the Penguins and have 2 games in hand

They are 11 points ahead of the Capitals and have 2 games in hand

They have 2 games in hand over the Montreal Canadiens and 3 games in hand on both the Nashville Predators and the Anaheim Ducks