Rangers Defeat Senators 3-2, Win Fifth In a Row

The line of Artem Anisimov-Derek Stepan-Marian Gaborik dominated the entire night and Henrik Lundqvist made 29 saves, as the Rangers beat the Ottawa Senators by a final score of 3-2 tonight to win their fifth game in a row.

The Rangers' G.A.S. line (Gaborik, Anisimov, Stepan - get it? I stole it from Mike Rupp on Twitter) was precisely that tonight. They were absolutely flying and storming the net whenever they were on the ice and each player had a hand in the Rangers' three goals tonight. Marian Gaborik had two goals, Derek Stepan had a goal and two assists, and Artem Anisimov had two assists. Altogether the trio combined for seven points tonight, and could've easily had more if not for a few nice saves by Craig Anderson.

Read more on the game below, including who got the Broadway Hat for player of the game.

Rangers Trade Tomas Kundratek to Capitals for Francois Bouchard

As we wait for the Rangers' next game tomorrow night at 7:30 against the Ottawa Senators, some news to report today on the trade front. The Rangers traded defenseman Tomas Kundratek to the Washington Capitals in exchange for RW Francois Bouchard, who has spent the past three seasons playing primarily for the Caps' AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears. Bouchard will head to the Connecticut Whale to provide some more depth at the forward position.

Rangers Defeat Ducks 2-1 in Shootout; Wolski Hurt

Original Image Credit: Pat Leonard of New York Daily News

The Rangers beat the Ducks tonight by a final score of 2-1 in a shootout tonight. Henrik Lundqvist stopped 2 of 3 shootout attempts and the Rangers' shootout goals came from Erik Christensen and Marian Gaborik on a dazzling move that was the game-winner (Brad Richards was the other shooter, unsuccessful on his attempt). If you haven't seen Gaby's goal that won the shootout for the Rangers, it's definitely worth checking out.

Click below to read more on the game.

Rangers Sign Defenseman Anton Stralman

According to ESPNNewYork.com, Anton Stralman's agent has confirmed that the Rangers have agreed to terms with the defenseman on a one-year, $900,000 deal. The Rangers have not officially confirmed the signing yet, but they likely are waiting until after the game tonight before announcing it.

No word yet if the deal is a one-way contract yet.

Stralman, 25, attended training camp with the Devils as a tryout this year but wasn't offered a contract. The Rangers have reportedly had an offer on the table for him for the last few weeks and he was debating between accepting the Rangers' offer or playing in Sweden.

Stralman was originally drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs as a fifth round pick in the 2007 Entry Level Draft. He's spent four seasons in the NHL with the Maple Leafs and Columbus Blue Jackets. In the 2009-2010 season he recorded 6 goals and 28 assists for 34 points and a minus-17 rating in 73 games with the Blue Jackets. Last year, he skated in 51 games with Columbus and recorded 1 goal and 17 assists for 18 points and a minus-11 rating.

I imagine that even if the Rangers plan on using Stalman in the NHL they'll likely have him go on a conditioning stint with the Connecticut Whale since he hasn't played hockey for a few weeks now.

I'm not sure how much of an upgrade Stralman will prove to be over Jeff Woywitka, but it can't hurt for the Rangers to continue shopping for low-cost defensemen while Marc Staal is out. I don't think the signing necessarily has anything to do with Staal's progression from his concussion because the Rangers made this offer to Stralman several weeks ago.

Rangers vs. Ducks Tonight at 7:00; No Avery, Lundqvist Back in Goal

 With the exception of Henrik Lundqvist being back in goal over Marty Biron, the Rangers will roll with the same lines tonight against the Anaheim Ducks they used in Monday's win against San Jose. Those would be:

Dubinsky-Richards-Callahan
Wolski-Stepan-Gaborik
Fedotenko-Boyle-Prust
Christensen-Anisimov-Deveaux

McDonagh-Girardi
Del Zotto-Sauer
Woywitka-Eminger

This means that Rangers fans will have to wait a little while longer to see Sean Avery make his 2011 season debut in a Rangers uniform. I can't really blame John Tortorella for sticking with the same lines that worked in what was easily the Rangers' most impressive win of the season on Monday, but I'm sure that won't matter to fans at MSG who were hoping to see Avery tonight. If the Rangers have a bad showing tonight don't be surprised to hear "We want Avery!" chants ringing in the Garden yet again. Nevertheless, Avery said himself after practice yesterday that he fully understood the coaching staff's decision to stay with the same lines from Monday since Avery only just started practicing yesterday and also hadn't skated in the last few days while he was waiting to see how the re-entry waivers scenario played out.

More to come later, as the Rangers look to make it two in a row at the Garden.

Guess who's back? Sean Avery Clears Waivers, Returns To Rangers

Well, that didn't take long.

After admitting himself three weeks ago that he didn't expect to return to the NHL again this season, Sean Avery cleared re-entry waivers today at noon and is back on Broadway for the third time in his career.

I'm sure we'll hear more from practice later. John Tortorella said after yesterday's game that he wouldn't necessarily make any changes to the lineup come Thursday night when the Rangers face the Ducks, but I would be pretty surprised if Avery didn't play.

More to come on The Grate One's return later.

***UPDATE***

The Rangers have officially confirmed via Twitter that Avery has cleared waivers and has been recalled from the Connecticut Whale. 

Rangers Defeat Sharks 5-2

It took a while, but the Rangers finally got that complete game, 60 minute effort from start to finish tonight that they've been lacking so far this season. Powered by Ryan Callahan's 2 G, 1 A effort, the Rangers beat the Sharks by a final score of 5-2. They also outshot the Sharks 31-26 - the first time the Rangers have outshot an opponent this season.

As you can see from the picture above, Ryan Callahan was awarded the Broadway Hat, and was also the game's first star tonight.

The Rangers really got plenty of contributions from everybody tonight. Derek Stepan and Artem Anisimov scored their first goals of the season and Erik Christensen added two assists, including a beautiful feed on a Callahan power play goal. Ryan McDonagh also scored his third goal of the season after scoring two goals combined with the Rangers and Connecticut Whale last season. Wojtek Wolski didn't record a point in the game, but today was easily his best game of the season. He registered a game-high seven shots on goal while playing primarily with Derek Stepan and Marian Gaborik tonight and was very involved in the offensive zone from start to finish. Although Brandon Dubinsky registered no shots on goal, he picked up two assists and shot just wide on two or three occasions. He seemed just a hair off and if he continues with games like these, the goals will come soon enough.

Marty Biron was solid in the net tonight, making 24 saves. It wasn't an easy night in goal for Biron by any stretch of the imagination, as he was often times barraged with shots in the second period when the Sharks tied the game 2-2, but Biron held his ground and played as well as you could want your backup to play.

You can view the boxscore to the game here.

Tomorrow at noon we will learn if Sean Avery has cleared waivers and if No. 16 will rejoin the Rangers for his third tour of duty with the Blueshirts. More news to come then.