About the Rangers - 04-05-12
A preview of the Rangers.
When and where: 7 p.m., EDT. Consol Energy Center.
TV: Root Sports, MSG 2, NBC Sports (Outside the Pittsburgh and New York markets), TSN2.
Record: 51-22-7, 109 points. The Rangers are in first place in the Eastern Conference and Atlantic Division.
Leading Scorer: Marian Gaborik, 76 points (41 goals, 35 assists).
Last Game: 5-3 road win against the Flyers, Tuesday. Gaborik and Ryan McDonagh (right) each had a goal and an assist for the Rangers.
Last Game against the Penguins: 5-2 home loss, March 15. Matt Cooke scored two goals for the Penguins.
Rangers Player We Would Bet Money On Scoring: Gaborik. He has points in six consecutive games.
Ex-Penguins on the Rangers: Ruslan Fedotenko, Rick Kehoe, professional scout; Mike Rupp, C; Glen Sather, general manager.
Ex-Rangers on the Penguins: Pascal Dupuis, RW; Tony Granato, assistant coach.
Useless Rangers Trivia Vaguely Related to the Penguins: Former Penguins captain Jaromir Jagr holds the Rangers' single-season record for power-play goals with 24 in 2005-06.
Best Rangers Video We Could Find: Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist apparently has dandruff, in Sweden:
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Probable goaltenders: Marc-Andre Fleury (41-17-4, 2.37 GAA, .913 SV%) for the Penguins. Martin Biron (12-5-2, 2.38 GAA, .906 SV%) for the Rangers.
Injuries: For the Penguins, defensemen Ben Lovejoy (knee), Matt Niskanen ("upper body"), left wingers James Neal ("lower body") and Steve Sullivan ("lower body") are out. For the Rangers, defenseman Steve Eminger (sprained right ankle) is day to day. Left winger Mats Zuccarello (left wrist) are out. Defenseman Michael Sauer (concussion) is on injured reserve.
Potential lines and defensive pairings: The Penguins' primary lines and defensive pairings at today's morning skate were: (PG+)
Chris Kunitz-Evgeni Malkin-Richard Park
Eric Tangradi-Sidney Crosby-Pascal Dupuis
Matt Cooke-Jordan Staal-Tyler Kennedy
Arron Asham-Joe Vitale-Craig Adams
Kris Letang - Paul Martin
Zbynek Michalek - Brooks Orpik
Brian Strait - Deryk Engelland
-The Rangers' primary lines and defensive pairings at today's morning skate were:
Carl Hagelin -Brad Richards - Marian Gaborik
Artem Anisimov - Derek Stepan - Ryan Callahan
Brandon Dubinsky - Brian Boyle - Ruslan Fedotenko
Mike Rupp - John Mitchell - Brandon Prust
Ryan McDonagh - Dan Girardi
Michael Del Zotto - Stu Bickel
Marc Staal - Anton Stralman
Notes:
-The last time the Penguins played the Rangers, this happened:
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-A win would clinch the fourth seed and home-ice advantage in the first round for the Penguins.
-Dan Bylsma expects Neal, Niskanen and Sullivan to be ready for the postseason. (PG+)
-The great Joe Vitale's escaped Tuesday's run-in with a Zdeno Chara wrister with only stitches.
-Fleury needs one win to tie Tom Barrasso's franchise record of 226 career wins.
-Dupuis has a 15-game scoring streak, the best in the NHL this season.
-Kunitz has 148 career goals, 199 career assists and 347 career points.
-Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist is resting a right forearm ailment.
-Our live blog begins at approximately 6 p.m. Please tune in.
(Photo: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)