2012–13 New York Rangers season
[4] The Rangers sent forwards Artem Anisimov and Brandon Dubinsky, defenseman Tim Erixon and a first-round draft pick in 2013 to the Blue Jackets in exchange.
[12][13] During the lockout, nine New York Rangers (Arron Asham, Brian Boyle, Steve Eminger, Dan Girardi, Jeff Halpern, Henrik Lundqvist, Taylor Pyatt, Brad Richards and Marc Staal) played as part of Team New York in Operation Hat Trick, a charity game to benefit Hurricane Sandy relief efforts.
[18][19] While Brad Richards attributed the team's poor performance to "rust" from the eight-month layoff, John Tortorella refused to entertain any questions from reporters about the topic.
[17] The team fared even worse the next day against the Pittsburgh Penguins, who defeated them 6–3 during New York's first home game at Madison Square Garden.
Rick Nash, Brad Richards and Marian Gaborik were placed in a line together for the first time and dominated the game,[24][25] making 15 of the team's 33 shots.
[29][30] Taylor Pyatt scored his third goal in as many games, but the Gaborik, Richards and Nash line managed only three shots,[29] and the Flyers killed nearly four minutes of consecutive Rangers power play in the third period.
[32][33] This led Tortorella to consider sending him back to the American Hockey League,[32] although it was later learned Kreider had been playing since January 5 with a bone chip in his right ankle.
[34] Against Philadelphia, Ryan Callahan scored a goal to earn his 200th career point,[37] but suffered a left shoulder subluxation during a third period fight with Maxime Talbot, an injury that was expected to make him miss up to 14 days.
"[45] However, the team went on to win four of their next five games,[46] starting with a 4–1 victory against the New York Islanders on February 7 that also marked the return of Ryan Callahan.
Nineteen-year-old rookie forward J. T. Miller scored two goals, marking the Rangers' first multi-goal Madison Square Garden debut since Chris Kontos in 1993.
[54] The Rangers beat the Washington Capitals 2–1 on February 17, bringing New York to seventh place and putting them in playoff contention for the first time all season.
[56][57] Darroll Powe left the game with a concussion after accidentally colliding with Washington's Matt Hendricks and landing on his head.
[58] He was placed on injured reserve and missed the next three games,[59] and Brandon Mashinter was called up from Whale to fill in for him in that time.
[60][61][62] His absence corresponded with a four-game losing streak for the Rangers, starting with a 3–1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens on February 19.
[63] New York lost 3–2 in overtime to the Ottawa Senators on February 21, where Callahan was the only Ranger to score in a seven-round shootout.
[66] Tortorella believed the team was struggling with consistency problems, despite what he called strong play in recent games from Carl Hagelin and Derek Stepan.
McDonagh was hit into the glass by forward Max Pacioretty, requiring 14 stitches near his mouth and forcing him out of the next game.
[65] Dan Girardi was injured when a shot by P. K. Subban struck his ankle, but he did not suffer a fracture and missed no games.
Callahan received a standing ovation after blocking two shots and making two hits despite lacking a stick, but it failed to rally the Rangers.
[69][70] New York broke their losing streak with a 4–1 win against Tampa Bay on February 28, a game that also saw the return of Nash, Del Zotto and McDonagh.
Early in the third, Sabres forward Patrick Kaleta was given a five-minute major and a game misconduct for checking Brad Richards from behind.
Rangers connected on the power play and Marian Gaborik found the perfect time to get out of his scoring slump.
