When the New York Rangers visit town, it usually means bad news as the Blueshirts have been one of the top road teams in the league. And on Saturday, the Rangers' success away from home continued with a 3-0 shutout of the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Air Canada Centre.
Rangers' back-up netminder Martin Biron stopped 20 shots to pick up his second shutout of the season and the 28th of his career. New York's victory in Toronto was their 16th road win of the season, tying them with the Philadelphia Flyers and Vancouver Canucks for most in the league. New York's shutout of the Leafs also marked their sixth win in seven games, giving them a league-leading 60 points.
Toronto's loss is their second in as many nights after falling 3-2 to the Buffalo Sabres on Friday. Of the eight times that the Leafs have played in back-to-back games, this is just the second time that they have dropped both games.
There was no scoring in a first period which saw the Rangers dominate the Leafs physically, outhitting Toronto by a 27-8 margin. Rangers captain Ryan Callahan and defenceman Michael Del Zotto led the way for New York, registering four hits each in the opening frame.
A 3-on-1 opportunity in Toronto's zone gave New York the opening goal, when off a nice passing play, Mike Rupp scored at the side of the net for his fourth of the season. Derek Stepan and Wojtek Wolski were credited with the assists on the goal which came at the 3:35 mark of the second period.
New York's lead was extended to two later in the middle frame off a goal from Brian Boyle, firing the shot past Jonas Gustavsson from the top of the right face-off circle. Boyle's goal was just his third of the season and first in 23 games.
Registering an assist on the opening goal of the game, Stepan added to his point total with a goal in the third period, making an easy deke to beat the Monster and extend the Rangers' lead to three.
Stepan's goal was his tenth of the season and came at the six minute mark. Rookie forward Carl Hagelin drew an assist for his sixth of the season, while Biron was credited with the secondary assist for his third of the year, tying him with Martin Brodeur for second in the league in assists by a goaltender. Craig Anderson of the Ottawa Senators leads the way with four assists.
Giveaways proved to be troublesome for Toronto on Saturday, giving up the puck double the amount of times, with 26 giveaways compared to 13 for the visiting Rangers.
It was another quiet night for Leafs all-stars Joffrey Lupul and Phil Kessel, as they were held off the scoresheet for a third-straight game. Saturday's shutout marked the first time this season that both Lupul and Kessel went without a point in three consecutive games.
After winning four games in a row to open up the new year, Gustavsson allowed three goals on 30 shots for his second-straight loss, dropping his record to 13-9-0 this season.
While he wouldn't speculate on who would get the start in net in their next game, Leafs' head coach Ron Wilson said post-game that he expects Tyler Bozak to return to the lineup to help in some key areas.
"We're getting Bozie back for the next game, I'm pretty sure of that," Wilson revealed. "And he'll help offensively and add some more speed that we seemed to run low on as the game went on tonight."
Bozak has missed the last seven games due to a shoulder injury, an ailment that he suffered during practice on Dec. 30. In 35 games played before the injury, Bozak had seven goals and 18 assists for 25 points.
The Maple Leafs wore camo sweaters during warm-ups and held an elaborate opening ceremony to honour the brave men and women defending our nation for their sixth annual Canadian Forces Night. Several Leafs' season ticket holders gave up their seats to members of the Canadian Armed Forces, as nearly 500 service men and women and their families were on hand for the festivities.
Leafs' president and general manager Brian Burke, who has made several trips to Afghanistan to visit the troops, said in a statement that it was nice to be able to give back to the brave heroes who give up so much for Canada.
"It is an honour for us to be able to recognize and host the courageous members of the Canadian Forces,” said Burke. “They have been kind enough to host us in Afghanistan and now we are privileged to have them in our building.”
The Leafs are back in action on Tuesday when they welcome the red-hot Ottawa Senators to town for another chapter in the Battle of Ontario.
Rangers vs. Leafs Stats Recap
Shots
NYR: 30
TOR: 20
Shot Leaders
NYR: Ryan Callahan (6)
TOR: Grabovski and Phaneuf tied (3)
Power Play
NYR: 0/2
TOR: 0/2
Blocked Shots
NYR: 22
TOR: 21
Blocked Shot Leaders
NYR: Anton Stralman (5)
TOR: Carl Gunnarsson (5)
Hits
NYR: 48
TOR: 39
Hits Leaders
NYR: Brandon Prust (6)
TOR: Dion Phaneuf (6)
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