Rangers fall to Sens, yet still help their playoff quest

2010-11 Game No. 75; Home Game No. 38		Rangers' Record: 40-30-5
VIDEO: TORTORELLA POSTGAME
• Full Highlights | Highlight of Game | Foxwoods Final Five		• Melrose Credit Union Save of the Game

GAME RECAP By Jim Cerny, newyorkrangers.com On eight separate occasions this season the Rangers have secured a valuable second point in the standings by winning in the overtime shootout. On Thursday night at Madison Square Garden, the Rangers were thwarted in their bid for a ninth such victory as the Ottawa Senators surprised the Blueshirts, 2-1. Ottawa defenseman Erik Karlsson scored the only goal of the overtime shootout, beating Henrik Lundqvist with a sharp forehand shot in the fifth round, to hand the Rangers only their third loss in 11 games decided by the shootout this season. “I didn’t see this one coming,” said Rangers head coach John Tortorella. “We don’t play too many bad games, and we haven’t this year, but this was one.” The loss snapped the Rangers’ season-high five-game winning streak. However the Blueshirts still earned an important point in the standings by sending the game to overtime on Brandon Prust’s third-period score. As such, the Rangers now have 85 points which leaves them just two points out of sixth place in the Eastern Conference behind Montreal after the Canadiens were defeated 7-0 by the Bruins on Thursday. “We stole a point,” said Tortorella. “We haven’t played without energy many times this year. Tonight everybody did. Even in the shootout we didn’t look right. So we take the point, stuff it in   ... • READ THE FULL STORY | PHOTO GALLERY

PHOTO OF THE GAME STAT OF THE GAME Marc Staal had the primary assist on Brandon Prust’s third-period goal. It was his 20th assist of the season, setting a new career-high for assists in a season and tying Staal's single season career-high of 27 total points. THREE STARS (selected by newyorkrangers.com) 1. Lundqvist 2. Marc Staal 3. B. Prust

---

THE BIGGER PICTURE It's never fun to lose a game in an OT shootout, but the main story here was the point that the Rangers gained on a night when Montreal lost. Sixth place is suddenly well within striking distance at this point because the Rangers so often refuse to lose in the third period.

RANGERS LEADERS Icetime -- Staal (29:34) Shots -- Gaborik, Dubinsky (4) Hits -- Boyle (6) Blocks -- McDonagh (3) Takeaways -- Gaborik, Stepan (2) Faceoffs -- Dubinsky (23)

NEW YORK RANGERS LINEUP VS. OTTAWA
FORWARD LINES
Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
Brandon Dubinsky	Artem Anisimov	Ryan Callahan
Vinny Prospal	Erik Christensen	Marian Gaborik
Ruslan Fedotenko	Brian Boyle	Brandon Prust
Wojtek Wolski	Derek Stepan	Mats Zuccarello

DEFENSE PAIRINGS
Left Defense	Right Defense
Marc Staal	Dan Girardi
Ryan McDonagh	Michael Sauer
Bryan McCabe	Steve Eminger
Goaltenders: Henrik Lundqvist, Chad Johnson Starting Lineup: Lundqvist, Staal, Girardi, Fedotenko, Boyle, Prust.

POWER PLAY UNITS
FORWARD LINES
Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
Mats Zuccarello	Brandon Dubinsky	Marian Gaborik
Vinny Prospal	Artem Anisimov	Ryan Callahan

POINT MEN
Left Point	Right Point
Marc Staal	Bryan McCabe
Dan Girardi	Derek Stepan

PENALTY KILLING UNITS
FORWARD UNITS
Forward	Forward
Brandon Prust	Brian Boyle
Ryan Callahan	Brandon Dubinsky

DEFENSE PAIRINGS
Left Defense	Right Defense
Marc Staal	Dan Girardi
Ryan McDonagh	Michael Sauer