via Evan Sporer of NHL.com,
Season series: The New York Rangers defeated the Detroit Red Wings 4-3 in overtime at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 5. Rick Nash had a power-play goal, and Matt Hunwick had two assists. Derick Brassard scored the game-winner for New York.
Rangers team scope: The Rangers expect to have defenseman Dan Boyle back Saturday after he missed the past two games with flu-like symptoms. John Moore filled in for Boyle and is expected to be a healthy scratch. The Rangers will be without forward Tanner Glass, who has missed the past three games with the mumps but practiced Friday. New York is 4-2-0 in its past six games, with its power play scoring in the past four and converting at 21.7 percent in those six games. The Rangers have not played since losing 6-3 at home Monday against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Cam Talbot is expected to start in goal on Saturday, according to the Rangers website.
Red Wings team scope: Detroit is coming off a 5-2 victory against the Dallas Stars on Thursday. Saturday will be the finale of a four-game homestand for Detroit. "Huge for us get a good balance of scoring," forward Stephen Weiss told the Detroit Free Press on Thursday. Weiss has four goals and five assists in six games after returning from injury. "Thirty teams would love to take that,” he said. “Power play got another one. All four lines were good. We did a real good job [Thursday] getting back where we want to be." Detroit is 2-1-0 on its homestand and 7-2-0 in its past nine games. Including a loss to the Rangers on Nov. 5, In the past 14 games Detroit's power play is 19 for 58 (32.8 percent), with power-play goals in 12 of those games; the Red Wings have at least two power-play goals in a game seven times. Weiss missed practice Friday to attend a funeral but is expected to play Saturday.
via BlueShirtsUnited,
Derick Brassard, Derek Stepan, Carl Hagelin and Marc Staal talk about the few days off they've had to prepare for Saturday's original six matchup in Detroit.
from Jim Cerny of BlueShirtsUnited,
Cam Talbot remembers the Rangers last visit to Detroit quite well because it was on that night of October 26, 2013 he earned his first victory as a goaltender in the National Hockey League. Now nearly 14 months later he will once again start in goal vs. the Red Wings at Joe Louis Arena Saturday night, looking to backstop the Rangers to another key win.
"It was definitely a memorable one for me, getting my first win in that building," Talbot said of New York's lone trip to Detroit last season. "It came in pretty dramatic fashion with (Derick Brassard) scoring with like 30 seconds remaining in overtime. It was a memorable night for me personally, and just a huge win for the team at that time in the season, coming at the end of the long season-opening road trip."
continued
DETROIT RED WINGS
THE MATCHUP
- Tonight is the 579th all-time meeting between DET and NYR
- Tonight marks the 2nd of 3 meetings this season between DET and NYR; 1st of 2 in DET
- DET’s all-time record vs. NYR: 261-212-103-3
- DET’s all-time home record vs. NYR: 167-76-45-1
- DET has lost 5 straight meetings to NYR, including a 4-3 OTL on 11/6 at Madison Square Garden earlier this season
- Pavel Datsyuk has 8 points (3-5-8) in 11 games vs. NYR
- Henrik Zetterberg has 6 points (2-4-6) in 10 games vs. NYR
- Jimmy Howard is 2-2-1 with a 1.98 GAA and a .949 SV% vs. NYR
- NYR’s all-time top scorers vs. DET: Rick Nash (26-22-48 in 58 GP), Lee Stempniak (10-6-16 in 39 GP) and Derick Brassard (7-9-16 in 29 GP)
- NYR F J.T. Miller skated for the USNTDP in Ann Arbor from 2009-11 and had 62 points (25-37-62) in 61 games for the Plymouth Whalers in 2011-12
- NYR D Matt Hunwick is a Warren, MI, native and had 97 points (24-73-97) in 163 games for the Michigan Wolverines (2003-07)
- NYR F Anthony Duclair recorded 99 points (50-49-99) for the QMJHL’s Quebec Remparts last season, second to only DET prospect Anthony Mantha (57-63-120)
- NYR assistant coach Ulf Samuelsson skated in 4 regular-season and 9 playoff games for DET during the 1998-99 season after being acquired from NYR at the trade deadline for a 2nd and 3rd round draft pick in the 1999 NHL Draft
POTENT POWER PLAY
The Red Wings have scored a power play goal in 6 straight games (9-for-24, 37.5%) and now rank 6th in the NHL on the man advantage at 23.1%. Detroit scored just 2 PPG in its first 8 games of the season (2-for-30, 6.7%) but now stand tied for the league lead (with PIT) at 24 PPGs. DET has also scored 2 PPGs in one game on 8 occasions this season, including in 3 of its last 6 games, and lead the league with 104 PP opportunities.
HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS
Detroit will play 10 games at Joe Louis Arena in December – marking the 2nd time in team history the team plays as many as 10 home games in one month. They also did so in March 2007 (5-1-4 home record). Detroit has the 4th-best home record in the league (trailing TB, NSH and LA) at 10-3-2. Last season, the team did not win its 10th home game until 1/31/14 (4-3 SOW vs. WSH), its 29th home game of the season (10-11-8). The Red Wings won 11 of their last 16 home contests last season, giving them points in 26 of their last 31 appearances (21-5-5) at Joe Louis Arena (since 1/22/14).
500-CLUB
Detroit’s win on 12/4 vs. DAL was Mike Babcock’s 499th as an NHL head coach, putting him within one win of 500 and into an 18thplace tie all-time with Toe Blake. Per the Elias Sports Bureau, Scotty Bowman is the only coach in NHL history to reach 500 wins in fewer than 900 games, doing so in 825 GP.
NEW YORK RANGERS
TONIGHT'S GAME
The Rangers play their 25th game of the 2014-15 season tonight, Dec. 6, against the Detroit Red Wings in an Original Six matchup at Joe Louis Arena (7:00 p.m. ET —TV: MSG Network; Radio: ESPN Radio 98.7 FM). Entering tonight's game, the Rangers have earned at least one point in 14 of their last 20 contests (10-6-4), including seven of their last 10 games (5-3-2). New York has posted an 11-9-4 record this season (26 pts), following a 6-3 loss against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday, Dec. 1 at Madison Square Garden. The Red Wings have posted a 15-6-5 record this season (35 pts), following their 5-2 victory on Thursday, Dec. 4 against the Dallas Stars in Detroit.
RANGERS VS. RED WINGS
All-Time*: 215-260-103-1 record (139-94-57-0 at home, 76-166-46-1 on the road) *Note: Includes games against the Detroit Cougars from 1926-27 - 1929-30 and the Detroit Falcons from 1930-31 - 1931-32 2014-15: Tonight's game is the second of three meetings between the Rangers and Red Wings this season, and the first of two meetings between the two teams in Detroit. The Rangers have posted a 1-0-0 record (1-0-0 at home, 0-0-0 on the road) against Detroit this season, following a 4-3 overtime win on Nov. 5 at MSG. Derick Brassard tallied two points (one goal, one assist), including the game-winning goal in overtime, while Martin St. Louis (one goal, one assist) and Matt Hunwick (two assists) each recorded two points in the game. Following tonight's game, the Rangers and Red Wings face off again on the following date: Mar. 4 (at Detroit).
Last Season: The Rangers posted a 3-0-0 record (2-0-0 at home, 1-0-0 on the road) against the Red Wings in 2013-14. The Blueshirts swept a season series against Detroit (more than two games played) for the first time since the 1985-86 season. Henrik Lundqvist posted a 2-0-0 record, along with a 0.00 GAA, a 1.000 SV% (stopped all 68 shots he faced), and 2 SO in two appearances.
The Rangers do not list any former Red Wings on their roster
The Red Wings do not list any former Rangers on their roster
INDIVIDUAL CAREER STATISTICS VS. RED WINGS
Cam Talbot - 1 GP, 1-0-0, 1.85 GAA, .941 SV% - Talbot registered his first career NHL win in the Rangers' last game in Detroit on Oct. 26, 2013. Talbot stopped 32 of 34 shots he faced in the Blueshirts' 3-2 overtime victory.
Rick Nash - 58 GP, 26-22-48 - Nash has played in more games (58) and has tallied more goals (26) against Detroit than against any NHL opponent.
Derick Brassard - 29 GP, 7-9-16 - Brassard has recorded a point in 10 of his last 12 games against the Red Wings, registering 11 points (four goals, seven assists) over the span.
SEEING RED
The Rangers have won five consecutive games against the Red Wings, dating back to Mar. 21, 2012. Prior to their current five-game winning streak against Detroit, the last time the Blueshirts won five straight games against Detroit was from Jan. 3, 1983 - Jan. 16, 1984. New York has allowed two goals or fewer in four of the five contests and has outscored the Red Wings, 13-6, in the five games.
RICK ROLLING
Rick Nash has tallied a point in 19 of 24 games this season, and has registered a goal in 14 of those contests. This season, Nash became the fourth Ranger in franchise history to record a goal in at least 14 of the first 22 games of a season (Brendan Shanahan - 15 of 22 in 2006-07; Adam Graves - 14 of 22 in 1993-94; Vic Hadfield - 14 of 22 in 1971-72). He enters the contest with a six-game point streak (four goals, three assists), and he has notched an assist in two consecutive games. The five-time NHL All-Star is tied for second in the NHL in goals (16), shorthanded goals (two), and shorthanded points (two), ranks third in even strength goals (12), and is tied for eighth in even strength points (19) this season. Nash leads the NHL in games with a goal (14) in 2014-15 and he is the only NHL player to have an active streak of 10 straight 20-goal seasons.
CAM CAN
Cam Talbot enters tonight's contest with a personal shutout streak of 125:34, dating back to the third period on Nov. 8 at Toronto. Talbot has posted five shutouts in 24 career NHL starts, and has registered a 9-5-1 record, along with a 1.70 GAA, a .937 SV%, and 4 SO in 16 career road appearances. He is tied for seventh in the NHL in shutouts (two) this season.
GOALS GALORE
The Rangers have tallied at least three goals in five consecutive games and at least four goals in five of the last 13 games. The Blueshirts rank ninth in the NHL in goals per game (2.92) this season.
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