Lightning at Rangers
Martin St. Louis and Ryan Callahan will face their respective former teams for the first time when the New York Rangers host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday. Acquired prior to last season's trade deadline, St. Louis scored his fifth goal in seven games on Saturday as New York suffered its second straight shootout loss with a 3-2 setback to Pittsburgh. While St. Louis will face the club with which he spent parts of 13 seasons, Callahan was drafted by the Rangers in 2004 and named their captain prior to the 2011-12 campaign before signing a six-year, $34.8 million deal with the Lightning in the summer.
"I don't know (if I'll be cheered)," the 29-year-old Callahan told Newsday when asked how he thought he'd be received by the Madison Square Garden faithful. "It's a fickle place there in MSG. That's what it's all about there. It's a great crowd, great fans, and I'm excited to go back and play." Callahan collected a goal and an assist on Saturday as Tampa Bay improved to 7-1-1 in its last nine contests with a 5-2 victory over the New York Islanders.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, SUN (Tampa Bay) MSG (New York)
ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (12-4-2): Defenseman Anton Stralman and Brian Boyle will also join Callahan for Monday's homecoming after the first two departed via free agency. "We haven't talked too much about it, but I think there's a mutual understanding that if there's one game the three of us want to win, it's this one," Stralman told Newsday. Stralman signed a five-year, $20.5 million deal and Boyle inked a three-year, $9.4 million pact after New York deemed the pair too expensive to keep on its roster.
ABOUT THE RANGERS (7-6-4): Dan Boyle experienced both positives and negatives on Saturday while playing in his second game since suffering a broken hand in the season opener. The defenseman alertly swatted away a loose puck after it eluded Henrik Lundqvist in the first period, but also had a key giveaway that led to the Penguins' tying goal in the second before his potential game-winning tally in the shootout was overturned. Fellow blue-liner Dan Girardi was jarred by a brutal hit from Evgeni Malkin late in the third period, but reported no issues and is expected to play on Monday.
OVERTIME
1. St. Louis scored two goals and set up another for Tampa Bay in its 5-0 win over New York on Nov. 25. He also had an assist in the Lightning's 2-1 triumph over the Rangers on Jan. 14.
2. New York LW Rick Nash has recorded four goals and six assists in his last nine contests.
3. Tampa Bay C Valtteri Filppula has scored three goals and set up seven others during his last nine games and has seven points (one goal, six assists) in seven career meetings with the Rangers.