Rangers make it eight of nine, beat Florida 3-2 in OT

2011-12 Game No. 38; Home Game No. 17	Rangers' Record: 25-9-4
VIDEO: HIGHLIGHT OF THE GAME
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GAME RECAP Associated Press Marian Gaborik scored 3:29 into overtime for the Rangers, who outlasted the Florida Panthers 3-2 and moved to the top of the NHL standings on Thursday with their eighth win in nine games. Gaborik took a drop pass from Derek Stepan in the high slot and slapped in a drive for his 23rd goal of the season. New York (25-9-4) stayed one point ahead of Boston, but jumped one point in front of Vancouver, which was idle. Martin Biron, starting for the fourth time in nine games to give No. 1 goalie Henrik Lundqvist a lighter workload, made 19 saves. Defenseman Anton Stralman and captain Ryan Callahan also scored for the Rangers, who showed no ill effects coming back to play indoors after their Winter Classic victory. Marcel Goc and Mike Santorelli scored goals, Mikael Samuelsson had two assists and Scott Clemmensen stopped 38 shots for the  Panthers, 0-2-3 in their last five road games. The Rangers took their first lead of the night 4:24 into the third when Callahan scored his 14th goal during a power play. Brad Richards' shot from above the left circle clipped the glove of defenseman Mike Weaver as he tried to block the drive and then hit Callahan in front before getting past Clemmensen. But there wasn't even enough time for the goal to be announced to the joyous crowd before the Panthers tied it  36 seconds later. Former President Bill Clinton was in attendance, and caught a puck tossed to him as he sat by the glass. • COMMENT ON BLUESHIRTS UNITED | PHOTO GALLERY

PHOTO OF THE GAME STAT OF THE GAME The Rangers’ 2011-12 season .711 winning percentage is the team’s best start through 38 games since the 1993-94 Stanley Cup championship season (26-9-3, .724 win%), and is tied for fourth-best start in the franchise's 86-year history. THREE STARS (selected by newyorkrangers.com) 1. Gaborik 2. Richards 3. Stralman

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THE BIGGER PICTURE The rest of the NHL is didn't need HBO to start learning an important lesson about these Rangers: This is a very hard team to beat, and even tougher to beat at home. As we see in baseball, this all looks like a two-team race between New York and Boston.

RANGERS LEADERS Icetime -- Del Zotto (26:36) Shots -- Dubinsky (6) Hits -- Girardi (9) Blocks -- McDonagh (4) Takeaways -- Fedotenko, Hagelin (2) Faceoffs -- Richards (22)

NEW YORK RANGERS LINEUP VS. FLORIDA
FORWARD LINES
Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
Artem Anisimov	Derek Stepan	Marian Gaborik
Brandon Dubinsky	Brad Richards	Ryan Callahan
Carl Hagelin	Brian Boyle	Ruslan Fedotenko
John Mitchell	Mike Rupp	Brandon Prust

DEFENSE PAIRINGS
Left Defense	Right Defense
Ryan McDonagh	Dan Girardi
Michael Del Zotto	Anton Stralman
Marc Staal	Stu Bickel
Goaltenders: Martin Biron, Henrik Lundqvist Starting Lineup: Biron, McDonagh, Girardi, Dubinsky, Richards, Callahan.

POWER PLAY UNITS
FORWARD LINES
Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
Ryan Callahan	Derek Stepan	Marian Gaborik
Brandon Dubinsky	Artem Anisimov	Brian Boyle

POINT MEN
Left Point	Right Point
Michael Del Zotto	Brad Richards
Ryan McDonagh	Dan Girardi

PENALTY KILLING UNITS
FORWARD UNITS
Forward	Forward
Brandon Prust	Brian Boyle
Ryan Callahan	Brandon Dubinsky
Artem Anisimov	Derek Stepan

DEFENSE PAIRINGS
Left Defense	Right Defense
Ryan McDonagh	Dan Girardi
Michael Del Zotto	Anton Stralman