When the New York Rangers acquired Martin St. Louis from the Tampa Bay Lightning on March 5, the reigning Art Ross winner had 29 goals. Few expected him to take until April Fools’ Day to collected his 30th goal - and first with the Rangers - while in full health, but that was the case.
Even so, the veteran winger made no mistake about it against the Vancouver Canucks:
That was the 3-1 insurance goal, which ended up being tonight’s final score. St. Louis, 38, now has one goal and three assists in 15 games with his new team.
(The Rangers naturally must hope that St. Louis can shake this off and get back to being an elite scorer, then.)
Burrows hits McDonagh
Unfortunately for the Blueshirts, it wasn’t all good news on Tuesday, as the Alex Burrows delivered this questionable hit on Ryan McDonagh:
That check came late in the game, so it’s difficult to tell if McDonagh suffered a major injury (many believe it might be shoulder-related if he is hurt).
AV did not have an update on @RMcDonagh27 after the game..#MacTruck was on receiving end of elbowing major assessed to Alex Burrows #NYR
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) April 2, 2014
Burrows, 32, received a game misconduct and five-minute major for elbowing. He hasn’t been suspended during his NHL career.
Playoff implications
It’s quite possible that Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault’s team slammed the door shut on the Canucks’ playoff hopes, though that’s not official. It wasn’t a pure act of spite by any means, however, as the Rangers continue to fight for home-ice advantage in the first round.
As you can see, the Rangers now have a three-point lead against the Philadelphia Flyers (who lost in a shootout to the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday), although Philly holds two games in hand.