Rangers Rebound and Weather Hurricanes

Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports

Three minutes and two seconds into the second period last night at the Garden, the crowd fell silent and became very worried. Goalie Henrik Lundqvist had been hit by the puck and was lying face down on the ice, moving his legs in pain, as the trainers from both teams and the Rangers team doctor made their way on the ice to his goal crease.

What happened, was that Ryan McDonagh’s stick had been lifted and got caught under Henrik’s mask. The stick then lifted the mask, as Jay McClement deflected a shot by Brad Malone. The stick caused Lundqvist’s head to snap back and the puck caught him near his Adam’s apple.

He dropped to the ice and was worked on by the trainers and the doctor and was able to stay in the game and although he gave up a goal by Brad Malone later in the 2^nd period, it would be the only goal he allowed for the game. He stopped 31 of 32 Carolina shots and the Rangers ended their brief two game losing streak.

Rick Nash scored on an unassisted semi-break and Dominic Moore on a beautiful shorthanded rush in the first period, as the Blueshirts jumped out to an early 2-0 lead.

Moore’s shorthanded goal truly was a thing of beauty, as he skated out of his own zone, swept past a Hurricane player along the boards and then cut in on Cam Ward and beat him with a nifty backhander as he skated past the crease.

In the third, Chris Kreider scored on a neat pass from fellow BC Eagle forward Kevin Nash and Dan Boyle scored on a blast from 64 feet away.

Scoring:

NYR: Rick Nash (29), Unassisted

NYR: Dominic Moore (4) SHG, Assisted by Ryan McDonagh

CAR: Brad Malone (4), Assisted by Ryan Murphy & Patrick Dwyer

NYR: Chris Kreider (11), Assisted Kevin Hayes & Mats Zuccarello

NYR: Dan Boyle (5), Assisted by Carl Hagelin & Jesper Fast

Goalie Stats:

Cam Ward: 33 Saves on 37 Shots for a SV% of .892

Henrik Lundqvist: 31 Saves on 32 Shots for a SV% of .969

Team Stats                              CAR                              NYR

Shots on Goal                         32                                  37

Power Play                              0 for 2                           0 for 1

Hits                                         22                                  21

Face Off Wins                        25                                  22

Giveaways                              5                                    10

Takeaways                             7                                    20

Blocked Shots                         15                                  18

3 Stars of the Game:

3^rd Star: Dominic Moore: 1 Goal

2^nd Star: Chris Kreider: 1 Goal

1^st: Henrik Lundqvist: 31 Saves on 32 Shots for a SV% of .969

Broadway Bits:

The Rangers are now 21-0-1 when leading after 2 periods.

The new line combinations of Alain Vigneault all seemed to click:

Nash – Stepan – St. Louis

Kreider – Hayes – Zuccarello

Hagelin – Brassard – Fast

JT Miller – Dom Moore – Glass

The Broadway Blueshirts were 2 for 2 on the Penalty Kill vs Carolina

Rick Nash is tied for the NHL lead in goals (29) and ranks third in Takeaways (46); he is the only player in the NHL who is in the Top 3 in these two categories.

Dan Boyle scored a goal and tied for a team-high with three blocked shots; the Rangers are 21-8-2 with him in the lineup this season.

Ryan McDonagh registered a shorthanded assist, two hits and two blocked shots, and 21:09 of ice time.

Mats Zuccarello had an assist, a plus 2 rating and 16:40 of ice time

Kevin Hayes registered an assist, three shots on goal, two takeaways, and won five of eight face offs. He also logged 13:31 in ice time.

Carl Hagelin and Jesper Fast each registered an assist.

The Rangers continue a home stand and will host the Florida Panthers on Monday February 2^nd.