Healthy Nash leads the way as Rangers crush Bolts

2013 Game No. 19; Home Game No. 12	Rangers' Record: 9-8-2
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GAME RECAP Rick Nash returned to the Rangers lineup Thursday and played a powerhouse game, and his teammates followed suit, as the Blueshirts skated to an impressive 4-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning at Madison Square Garden. The Rangers had been winless with Nash sidelined by injury, going 0-3-1 in the previous four games, but they looked like a different team Thursday night, dominating the Lightning in every facet of the game all night long. If not for Lightning goaltender Mathieu Garon, who made 38 saves, the Blueshirts likely would have romped to a much easier victory. Nash, who scored off a gorgeous Brad Richards feed with 1:33 to play and earned a power play assist in the second period, had four shots on goal after one period of play, and nine after 40 minutes. He finished with a career-high 12. The Rangers stormed out of the starting gate to play their most dominating period of the season so far, but somehow despite outshooting the Lightning 20-3 in the first period the Blueshirts reached the first intermission holding only a 2-1 lead. Carl Hagelin opened the scoring 7:23 into the first when he danced around a defenseman to create some space on left wing before blasting a slap shot past Garon for his seventh goal of the season, and his ninth point in the last nine games. Shortly thereafter Ryan Callahan made a pretty pass from behind the net to an open Derek Stepan in front, and Stepan buried his fourth goal of the season at 8:40 giving the Rangers a quick 2-0 lead. The second period was more of the same as the Rangers had the puck far more than the Lightning. They scored a power play goal with 3:52 to play in the middle stanza to grab a 3-1 lead. • COMMENT ON BLUESHIRTS UNITED | PHOTO GALLERY

PHOTO OF THE GAME STAT OF THE GAME The Blueshirts out-shot the Lightning 42-25, including a 20-3 advantage in the first period. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the last time the Rangers had a 17-shot advantage in a period was on Jan. 9, 2010, when New York outshot Boston, 21-3, in the second period. The Rangers’ 42 shots tied their season high. THREE STARS (selected by the local media) 1. Callahan 2. Lundqvist 3. Hagelin

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THE BIGGER PICTURE In the first period, the Rangers reminded everyone just how explosive they can be when they are playing their signature style. The energy and domination was on par with the best of last season, and showed that with Rick Nash all things are possible.

RANGERS LEADERS Icetime -- Staal (26:40) Shots -- Nash (12) Hits -- Del Zotto, Stralman (3) Blocks -- Girardi (3) Takeaways -- Four players tied (1) Faceoffs -- Richards (20)

NEW YORK RANGERS LINEUP VS. TAMPA BAY
FORWARD LINES
Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
Carl Hagelin	Brad Richards	Rick Nash
Taylor Pyatt	Derek Stepan	Ryan Callahan
J.T. Miller	Brian Boyle	Marian Gaborik
Darroll Powe	Jeff Halpern	Stu Bickel

DEFENSE PAIRINGS
Left Defense	Right Defense
Marc Staal	Dan Girardi
Ryan McDonagh	Anton Stralman
Michael Del Zotto	Steve Eminger
Goaltenders: Henrik Lundqvist, Martin Biron Starting Lineup: Lundqvist, McDonagh, Stralman, Pyatt, Stepan, Callahan.

POWER PLAY UNITS
FORWARD LINES
Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
Rick Nash	Derek Stepan	Ryan Callahan
Taylor Pyatt	J.T. Miller	Gaborik/Hagelin

POINT MEN
Left Point	Right Point
Brad Richards	Michael Del Zotto
Marc Staal	Dan Girardi

PENALTY KILLING UNITS
FORWARD UNITS
Forward	Forward
Ryan Callahan	Derek Stepan
Darroll Powe	Jeff Halpern
Carl Hagelin	Brian Boyle

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