The Rangers winning streak ended at three after a clunker at the Garden today, getting shutout 4-0 by the Panthers.  Henrik Lundqvist allowed three goals on 23 shots before being pulled in the second period for Steve Valiquette.  The Rangers did plaster Panther goalie Craig Anderson with 43 shots, but all were turned away.

Monzo: Not much to say here.  The Rangers have had two afternoon games this season and have lost them both.  The team brought absolutely nothing to the table today.  The key was to get out of the first period with a lead, but they could not get anything going.  Can’t put much blame on Lundqvist — each of the goals he gave up was to a wide open player, including a breakaway to Ville Peltonen.  Stephen Weiss and Gregory Campbell both netted goals shortly afterwards.  The Rangers now have a few days to prepare for the Penguins Wednesday night at MSG.

Also, no decision has been made yet on Petr Prucha, however it is looking more and more likely he is going to be sent to Hartford on a conditioning assignment.

More tomorrow…

A decision on Petr Prucha‘s future with the Rangers is on its way.  Sam Weinman’s ‘Ranger Report’ reports Tom Renney had discussions with Jim Schoenfeld and Glen Sather to decide what to do with the fourth year winger.  Prucha has been a healthy scratch for 9 straight games and will likely be one again tomorrow. 

Monzo: This has really dragged on long enough.  Prucha has been a trooper through all of this and has been the ultimate teammate.  What needs to happen is Prucha needs to play 10 games in Hartford and from there the Rangers should decide whether or not he is a full-time player or is someone they are going to move.  Prucha scored 52 goals in his first two seasons, but has not been given a chance to do anything the last two seasons.

Brian Burke was officially named President and GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs. TSN has the story.

Monzo: This was an obvious move for the Leafs. Burke was looking to come east because of his family and Toronto was looking for a change.  This has been rumored for some time now and got to the point where the league would monitor any move the Leafs and Ducks made when Burke was GM of the Ducks.  There were some reports/thoughts of Burke possibly coming to New York or Boston, but I think in end, everyone knew he would wind up in TO.

News: The Rangers continued their solid play, as they swept the Lightning and Panthers on their holiday trip to Florida. Last night the Rangers continued their shootout dominance, improving to 6-1 in the shootout, with a 4-3 win over the Panthers. Nikolai Zherdev, Dan Fritsche and Aaron Voros all netted goals. Henrik Lundqvist got his 15th win of the season, which leads the league. Lundqvist is now 15-5-2 this season with a goals against of 2.11, good for 6th in the NHL.

Here is the games boxscore.

Notes: Michael Obernauer of the Daily News came out with his weekly power rankings.

The Game:

The first-place Rangers (16-7-2) face-off against the Panthers (8-11-2) tonight in the first game of a home-and-home set at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Florida, starting at 7:30 pm.

The Goaltenders:

Henrik Lundqvist (14-5-2, 2.08 GAA) starts in net for the Rangers.

Craig Anderson (3-1-2, 2.01 GAA) gets the start for the Panthers.

The Notes:

The Rangers are 20-for-121 (16.5%) in power play attempts this season, including 8-for-51 (15.7%) on the road.

Scott Gomez is two assists shy of 400 for his career.

The Rangers are second in the league with a 90% penalty kill rate.

Markus Naslund has 18 points ( 6 G, 12 A) in 22 career games versus the Panthers.

The Panthers have lost four of their last six games.

Monzo’s Keys To The Game:

• Get the lead.  The Panthers score 2.29 goals a game, which is 29th in the league.  Force them to play from behind and take chances — which leads to mistakes.
• Hit David Booth and Nathan Horton hard.  Their two best players have a combined 17 goals — hold them down and the Panthers don’t have a lot of firepower.
• Kill penalties.  The Rangers have the 2nd best PK at 89.6% while the Panthers PP is 27th in the league at 13.9.

How To Catch It:

Tonight’s game can be seen locally on MSG and heard on 1050 ESPN Radio.

Larry Brooks reports in the New York Post that Petr Prucha may play tonight in Miami as the Rangers battle with the Panthers. Prucha has played in only eight of the Rangers 25 games this season. If he doesn’t get in, he may be sent down to Hartford on a conditioning assignment. The Rangers recently sent down Patrick Rissmiller, but he was recalled earlier in the week.

Monzo: I am a Peter Prucha guy. He is making $1.6 million and is a RFA at the end of the season. It has gotten to the point that Prucha needs to play or be traded. We all saw that when Prucha gets opportunities to play consistently he produces. He is not the kind of player that will be effective if given a limited role. If Prucha plays, the next question is : Who sits down? That is likely Dan Fritsche. So, if this is case, coach Renney is again going with a rotation of Prucha, Fritsche, Rissmiller and Nigel Dawes. It’s always good to have fresh legs coming in and out of games, however Prucha is useless in this role and either needs to play the rest of the season, spend the rest of the season in Hartford or get moved. My feeling? He gets moved.

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From all of us at SNYRangersBlog.com, we wish you and your family a happy and healthy Thanksgiving.

We hope you have enjoyed and will continue to enjoy our Rangers coverage.

Again, have a Happy Thanksgiving.

The first-place Rangers (16-7-2) earned a shootout victory over the Lightning (6-8-7) by the score of 3-to-2.

The Rangers have now won five of their last seven games.

For a complete recap, boxscore and stats, check out SNY.tv.

• The Markus Naslund-Brandon Dubinsky-Nikolai Zherdev line worked well again tonight, with Nasulnd being the beneficiary, scoring both of the Rangers goals in regulation. Hat tip to our fellow blogger, Brian Monzo, for the calling Naslund’s big game in tonight’s pre-game notes.
• Michal Rozsival looked stellar on the ice tonight, providing helpers on both of Naslund’s goals. He also played much better in the defensive end than he has all season.
• Surprising to see Zherdev get in a scrap with Lightning rookie Steve Stamkos. He also provided two assists and now has six assists over his last three-games.
• Despite allowing the tying goal with 50 seconds left in the game, Henrik Lundqvist continues his dominating performances in shootouts, denying both of the Lightning’s shootout attempts. Lundqvist has allowed two goals or less in 14 of his last 15 starts.

The Rangers finish off their two-game trip to Florida on Friday with a game against the Panthers, starting at 7:30 pm.

The Game:

The first-place Rangers (15-7-2) face-off against the Lightning (6-8-6) tonight for the final time this season in the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, Florida, starting at 7:30 pm.

The Goaltenders:

Henrik Lundqvist (13-5-2, 2.09 GAA) starts in net for the Rangers. Lundqvist is 3-0-0 with a 1.34 GAA in three game versus the Lightning this season. In his last start versus the Lightning on November 6, Lundqvist allowed two goals on 38 shots, earning a victory. He is 4-1 in six road starts this season.

Mike Smith (5-4-4, 2.35 GAA) gets the start for the Lightning. Smith is 3-2-3 in eight starts this month. His last start versus the Rangers on November 6, resulted in loss, in which Smith allowed five goals on 35 shots. Smith is 2-3-0 in five carerr starts versus the Rangers, including 0-2-0 this season.

The Notes:

The Rangers are 6-2-0 versus the Lightning in their last eight meetings, including 3-0-0 this season.

Wade Redden has 23 points (8 G, 15 A) in 45 career games versus the Lightning, including one goal and two assists this season.

The Rangers are second in the league with a 90% penalty kill rate.

Jussi Jokinen leads the Lightning with a .188 shooting percentage.

The Lightning have lost eight of their last 10 games.

Monzo’s Keys To The Game:

• With the Lightning being 21st in penalty killing the Rangers need to take advantage of their powerplay opportunities.
• Mr Staal, meet Mr. Lecavalier. Now stick to him like glue.
• Chris Drury had his best game of the season in the Rangers last meeting versus the Lightning, now its Markus Naslund‘s turn for a big game.
• Don’t let the win over the Coyotes be satisfying. The Rangers need to beat the teams they should.

How To Catch It:

Tonight’s game can be seen locally on MSG2 and heard on AM970.

A lot of things go unseen.  A lot of players get mixed in the shuffle and don’t get the recognition they deserve.  When I look at the Rangers roster, a lot of guys slip through the cracks and don’t get much praise for their job well done.

Two players come to the top of my list.  One is Dan Girardi and the other is Blair Betts.  Good news, Girardi is locked up through next year and is a RFA at the end of the season.  However, Betts, 28,  is an UFA at the end of the season.  My memo to Glen Sather is simple: Get this guy signed for another three years.  He is without a doubt, one of the top 4th line centers in the NHL and a top notch penalty killer.  Another attribute to his success is his face-off winning percentage.

Since the lockout, his FO% is 53.7, 52.3, 50.3 and his 48.5 this season.  One thing that makes complete teams successful is role players.  The Red Wings have Kirk Maltby, the Devils have Jay Pandolfo and the Rangers have Betts.

While the superstar players get their recognition, it’s the role players that change games.  Betts is fearless in blocking shots on the PK and if you ask any Ranger fan, in the defensive zone, Betts is the guy you want taking the face-off.

So Mr. Sather, make the move and throw out that offer to Blair Betts.  The numbers? 3-years/4.8 million.

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