Blueshirts Retake First with a 4-1 Victory over Nashville

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The new NY Rangers took the ice at MSG on Monday to face the league leading Nashville Predators and were in command of the game from the opening face-off and never let up.

Newly acquired D-man Keith Yandle was on the ice, wearing #93 and was right in the middle of the power play and was a force to be reckoned with.

Derrick Brassard’s pass for Rick Nash went past the “Monster”, and was touched by Mats Zuccarello before Marc Staal controlled it and fired it past Pekka Rinne for a 1-0 Ranger lead.

In the second period, a great individual effort by Derick Brassard got the puck to Zucc again, who glanced up and feed a perfect pass onto the tape of Chris Kreider’s stick, for Kreid’s 17^th goal of the season.

The Predators put on a ton of pressure in the second period and Matt Cullen scored on a great pass from Taylor Beck, who was on his knees as he passed the puck.

But in the third period, the Rangers put the pedal to the metal and did not let up. The Preds did put shots on Cam Talbot, but he stopped each and every one. Meanwhile, Dominic Moore bounced on a loose puck and just got enough on the shot for it to skid past Rinnie’s stick and into the net.

With the score 3-1, Nashville pulled the goalie with over three minutes left, but Rick Nash was able to intercept a puck in his own end and slide one all the way down the ice and into the empty net for his 38^th of the season. This goal sealed Nashville’s fate and it was all over.

Scoring:

NYR: Marc Staal (5), Assisted by Mats Zuccarello & Derick Brassard

NYR: Chris Kreider (17), Assisted by Mats Zuccarello & Derick Brassard

NSH: Matt Cullen (7), Assisted by Taylor Beck & Michael Santorelli

NYR: Dominic Moore (6), Assisted by Dan Girardi & Tanner Glass

NYR: Rick Nash (38) ENG, Assisted by Kevin Klein

Team Stats:                                      NSH                              NYR

Shots on Goal                         26                                  40

Power Play                              0 for 3                           0 for 1

Face Off Wins                        36                                  31

Giveaways                              3                                    5

Takeaways                             11                                  13

Blocked Shots                         6                                    11

3 Stars of the Game:

3^rd Star: Chris Kreider: 1 Goal

2^nd Star: Cam Talbot: 25 Saves on 26 Shots for a SV% of .962

1^st Star: Mats Zuccarello: 2 Assists

Goalie Stats:

Pekka Rinne: 36 Saves on 39 Shots for a SV% of .923

Cam Talbot: 25 Saves on 26 Shots for a SV% of .962

Broadway Bits:

The Rangers have won 32 of their last 44 games (32-10-2) and have at least one point earned in 44 of their last 58 games (38-14-6)

The Blueshirts have scored first in 38 of 62 games this season and have a record of 30-5-3 when scoring first

They are also 27-0-1 when leading after two periods this season

The Rangers were 3 for 3 on the Penalty Kill in this game and have killed off 25 of their last 28 PK situations

Mats Zuccarello had two assists, two takeaways, a plus 2 rating in 17:59 of ice time

Chris Kreider had a goal, three shots on goal, and two hits in 14:26 of ice time

Marc Staal had a goal and a plus 2 rating in 18:51 of ice time

Dominic Moore had a goal, a plus 1 rating and won eight of 14 face offs in 13:22 of ice time

Rick Nash had a goal, three takeaways, four shots on goal and a plus 2 rating in 20:15 of ice time

Derick Brassard had two assists and a plus 2 rating in 17:41 of ice time

Dan Girardi, Tanner Glass and Kevin Klein all had an assist

Newly acquired Keith Yandle had three shots on goal, one hit and one takeaway in 19:41 of ice time. He is wearing #93. His number in Arizona was 3, but that was retired by the Rangers for former great Harry Howell, so Keith took 93 instead.

The Rangers sit atop the Metropolitan Division with a record of 39-17-6 for 84 points and have two games in hand on the NY Islanders.