Team Notes:
– The Rangers were defeated by the Washington Capitals, 4-3, in double overtime tonight at Madison Square Garden, in Game Four of their Eastern Conference Quarterfinal match-up. The Capitals now lead the series 3-1.
– Tonight’s contest was the ninth longest game in Rangers history, and the longest since their 2-1 win vs. Buffalo on April 29, 2007 in Game Three of their Conference Semifinal match-up (16:43 of the second overtime). It is the seventh time the Rangers and Capitals required overtime in the playoffs, and second of the series. New York is now 2-5 in those contests. Tonight’s contest was the longest between the two teams, out-lasting the previous longest set in Game One of this series by 14:12 (78:24).
– New York is now 198-215-8 all-time in 421 playoff contests, including a 110-83-2 record at home, and are 15-18 in 33 postseason contests vs. Washington.
– Tonight was the first Game Four loss the Rangers suffered since April 29, 2006 (5-1 over the span). New York is now 39-29 all-time in Game Fours of playoff series.
– The Blueshirts tallied two goals in a seven-second span of the second period, at 13:40 and 13:47. The Rangers record for fastest two goals in a playoff game is six seconds, set by Rod Gilbert who tallied both goals at 9:32 and 9:38 of the second period at Chicago on April 11, 1968. The NHL record for fastest two goals in a playoff game is five seconds, by Detroit vs. Chicago on April 11, 1965.
– New York notched three goals in the second period. The last time the Rangers tallied three goals in a single period during the playoffs was in the second period on April 15, 2009, in Game One of their Quarterfinal match-up at Washington (4-3 win).
Player Notes:
– Brandon Dubinsky notched one goal and added an assist for his fourth career multi-point performance in the postseason. He has now tallied three points (two goals, one assist) in the last two games. He also led all forwards with a career-high, 33:17 of ice time. Entering tonight’s contest, he led all NHL forwards in playoff ice time (24:21).
– Ruslan Fedotenko recorded two assists and was credited with a career-high, nine hits to capture second star honors. His assist at 13:40 of the second period was his first playoff point as a Ranger.
– Marian Gaborik tallied his first playoff goal as a Ranger at 13:40 of the second period, and has now registered a point in each of the last two games (one goal, one assist). He also registered four shots on goal and was credited with four hits in 28:21 of ice time.
– Henrik Lundqvist made 49 saves in net, and is now 1-3 with a 2.08 goals against average and a .922 save percentage in four playoff games. His 49 saves are a playoff career high. Lundqvist has now appeared in 30 consecutive games dating back to Feb. 11 at Atlanta, and has started in each of the Rangers’ last 33 playoff contests.
– Artem Anisimov opened the game’s scoring with his first career playoff goal/point at 5:24 of the second period. He also registered three shots on goal and three hits in 22:02 of ice time.
– Chris Drury recorded the primary assist on Anisimov’s second period goal, and tied for the team-high with 11 faceoff wins. Drury has now tallied 89 points (47 goals, 42 assists) in 134 career playoff contests.
– Michael Sauer tallied his first career playoff point with an assist on Anisimov’s goal at 5:24 of the second period, and was credited with four hits in a career-high, 32:32 of ice time.
– Dan Girardi led all skaters with nine blocked shots and a career-high, 39:45 of ice time. Entering tonight’s contest, Girardi was tied for first in the NHL in playoff blocked shots (14), and ranked eighth in the league in ice time (26:10).
– Brian Boyle led all skaters with a career-high, 10 hits, registered a team-high, five shots on goal, and won 11 of 18 faceoffs (61%) in 29:51 of ice time. Entering tonight’s contest, Boyle was tied for third in the NHL with 15 shots on goal in the playoffs.
– Marc Staal was credited with five blocked shots and logged 36:55 of ice time in the contest. He currently ranks second on the team with nine blocked shots and 29:19 of ice time per game in the playoffs.
– Brandon Prust was credited with seven hits and recorded four shots on goal in 24:23 of ice time. He currently leads the team with 21 hits in the postseason.
Bob Trainor’s Audio is Below:
Marian Gaborik
[audio:https://www.nysportsday.com/wp-content/uploads/Marian-Gaborik-Washington-Rangers-post-game-Wed-4-21-2011.mp3]
Chris Drury
[audio:https://www.nysportsday.com/wp-content/uploads/Drury.mp3]
Henrik Lundqvist
[audio:https://www.nysportsday.com/wp-content/uploads/Lundqvist.mp3]
Bruce Boudreau
[audio:https://www.nysportsday.com/interviews/Boudreau.mp3]
Jason Chimera
[audio:https://www.nysportsday.com/wp-content/uploads/Jason-Chimera-Washinghton-post-game-Wed-4-21-2011.mp3]
Alex Ovechkin
[audio:https://www.nysportsday.com/wp-content/uploads/Alex-Ovechkin-Washington-post-game-4-21-2011.mp3]