Marc Staal led the Rangers in games played with 660 this decade
Marc Staal #18 of the Rangers skates during the first period against the Montreal Canadiens at Madison Square Garden on Friday, Dec. 6, 2019. Credit: Jim McIsaac
EDMONTON, Alberta — With the decade coming to a close, the Rangers tallied up the numbers and they showed that defenseman Marc Staal led the Blueshirts in games played, with 660 (before Tuesday night) and goaltender Henrik Lundqvist was second with 578. Lundqvist and Staal were the only two Rangers to have been with the club for the entire 10-year period from the beginning of 2010 through the end of 2019.
Dan Girardi (550), Ryan McDonagh (516), Derek Stepan (515) and Mats Zuccarello (509) rounded out the top five.
Rick Nash (145) had scored the most goals in the decade entering Tuesday night, though Chris Kreider was second, with 144 and played Tuesday night. Zuccarello had the most assists, with 239, and Stepan had the most points, with 360. Kreider was fourth in assists (151) and third in points (295).
Lundqvist had a record of 299-209-58, with a goals against average of 2.48, a save percentage of .919, and 42 shutouts.
As a team, the Rangers posted a record of 417-289-78 (912 points) during the decade (not including Tuesday night’s game).
Smith returns
Brendan Smith was back in the lineup after sitting out Saturday night’s game in Toronto as a healthy scratch. Micheal Haley was scratched to make room. A native of Mimico, Ontario, Smith admitted it was more painful to sit out that game than it would have been somewhere else.
“For sure,’’ he said. “My family was there, my parents were in a suite. It was a holiday-type of thing, so that was a tough one to sit. But at the end of the day, I got to spend more time with them.’’
Blue notes
D Libor Hajek skated with the team in the morning skate, wearing the red, no-contact jersey. Coach David Quinn said he did not know when Hajek, out since he suffered a right knee sprain Dec. 5 in Columbus, will return. “He's a ways enough away where we really haven't talked too much about that,’’ the coach said. “My gut tells me he's probably got to go play some games [with AHL Hartford]’’ before he returns…The team flew to Calgary after the game, where they likely were scheduled to land in Calgary a little after midnight. The team has a practice scheduled for New Year’s Day in Calgary.
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
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