According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Rick Nash is in the middle of a career high ten game point scoring streak. Throughout his time with Columbus, Nash had points in nine straight games on three different occasions.
Nash has seven goals and nine assists in the ten game streak and, in the six games since he returned from injury, has six goals and five assists.
Watch all of Nash’s points during the streak, below:
Heading into today’s against against the Capitals, Rick Nash enters the game on a five-game goal streak and a nine-game point streak.
Nash has seven goals and seven assists during the nine game streak.
Derek Stepan said after the game against the Islanders, “he is a prime time player. He adds so much to this team. He is dynamic and scoring big goals at big times.”
When talking about how he plays on a line with Nash,
Ron Duguay spoke glowingly about Nash on the post game show, saying “The team becomes a better team. Nash makes everyone around him a threat. There is a confidence and you see a Rick Nash on your side, it helps the team to play with a little oopmh. He creates a fun atmosphere where you feel you can win every night when you got a back breaking kind of guy, this guy is a horse and he is carrying two guys to the net and he goes hard to the net, he wants to score, he wants the puck, he wants to make the plays, he just wants to do everything. You can see he is a happy camper right now
Henrik Lundqvist kept his thoughts on Nash simple, “Nasher was Nasher.”
John Tortorella spoke about how Nash has been at his best in the third periods and how that is a good sign for his level of conditioning. When asked why the third period is Nash’s best, Tortorella credited a “mindset” of accepting the responsibility of his role on the team.
Tortorella added, “He doesn’t speak, he just goes out and plays. As advertised, he has been a game breaker for us.
Katie Baker of Grantland spoke to Rick Nash and Nash told here that he looks at his numbers and understands where he thinks he should be, where he has been in the past and where he wants to get to.
Rick Nash has eight goals on the season and all eight have come in the third period.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Nash is the second period in NHL history to have his first eight goals be in the third period.
The last player to do this was teammate Arron Asham in 2003-04 when Asham was with the Islanders.
That season Asham had 12 goals and 12 assists, nine third period goals and eight fights.
Rick Nash has seven goals this season and all have come in the third period.
Three of Nash’s goals have given the Rangers the lead and he has been credited with one game winning goal.
Against the Flyers on Tuesday, Nash had two goals, including the game winner, and extended his point streak to seven games.
He has five goals and six assists in that time frame.
Joe Micheletti said that Nash has the “clutch” gene and has the rare ability to grab the puck and start raising people out of their seats with anticipation.
Brian Leetch said that Nash has slightly more value to the Rangers than Sidney Crosby has to the Penguins because Crosby has a teammate like Evgeni Malkin.
John Tortorella said after the game that Nash stepped up again in the third period, he has been comfortable and confident as a Ranger since his first day and now that the puck is going in, he is igniting the team.
Dave Maloney called Nash a “stupendous player.”
Nash told ESPN NY that scoring goals is his job and that he loves playing in front of the fans at MSG.
When asked about Nash, Dan Girardi said on MSG, “I catch myself watching him sometimes. It’s pretty great to have him on our team. It’s pretty easy for me to get him the puck off the boards. I’ll pick up those assists all day.”
Henrik Lundqvist said that watching Nash bring a smile to his face, “It feels so good to have a player on the team who can be the difference every night. It’s gonna be huge for us. We have a lot of guys who can step up, but he can bring it to another level.”
Lundqvist then said that the way Nash is playing reminds him of how dominant Jaromir Jagr was when he was with the Rangers and at the top of his game.
Ryan McDonagh said of Nash, “we all just turn to each other in amazement. He scores and creates in so many different ways. He is calling for the puck all game which is what we want to see, He has confidence and confidence in his linemates.”
Ryan Callahan says that Nash is “special” and steps up when the game is on the line.
Based on his stats this season, NHL.com projects Rick Nash to have 24 goals, 53 assists, a plus 39 rating and 351 shots on goal over an 82 game season.
Nash is averaging 21:15 per game this season and is in the middle of a six-game point streak that started before he got injured.
In that time, Nash has three goals and six assists. He has four points, two goals and two assists, in the two games since he returned from injury. Nash also has 15 shots in the past two games.
John Tortorella has said that he is leaving Nash alone to just “play” and make his own calls when it comes to taking shots.
Since Nash has returned, Dave Maloney has been using the word “catalyst” to describe Nash the impact he has to have on the Rangers offense.
On Sunday, Maloney said that Nash can’t be the Rangers entire offense, “If the offense has to be Rick Nash, you will be Columbus. The offense has to revolve around Nash, he has to be the catalyst. The supporting cast is more than capable of supporting a catalyst. I think that is the difference in Nash in NY than in Columbus. Great players create space. He uses his space and he doesn’t need a lot of space to make things happen.”
For more on Nash, CLICK HERE.
According to The Score in Canada, the 12 shots on goal that Rick Nash had on Thursday against Tampa Bay were the most in a single game over the past two seasons.
Nash attempted 16 shots but had four of them blocked. Nash finally scored on his 12th shot.
In the Daily News Ryan McDonagh described Nash as “incredible” and, “he pulls moves off not a lot of people can. He uses his body so well, it kind of seems like a nothing play, then all of a sudden he explodes to the middle of the zone, and it’s just chaos. He draws penalties or gets pucks to the net. It was great to see.”
Ryan Callahan mentioned in the NY Post that the Rangers are a different team when Nash is on the ice and that “he brings so much.”
Henrik Lundqvist said in the NY Post that he knows how “great” Nash is so his performance on Thursday wasn’t surprising. He couldn’t help but add though, “it was so impressive.”
Lundqvist and Joe Micheletti were both impressed by how Nash was able to play at such a level after being at home for most of the previous 10 days and not practicing that much.
Micheletti said that Nash has a “relentless” work ethic.
Al Trautwig described Nash by saying, “wow.”
Prior to the game, when Nash was being listed as questionable, Tampa Bay coach Guy Boucher mentioned in the NY Times the success that Nash had against his team in the previous two meetings and said, “If he’s playing tonight, he’s going to be a handful again, I’m sure.”
In his return to the Rangers lineup, Rick Nash had a career high 12 shots to go along with his goal, assist and hit in 19:15 of ice time.
In the NY Post, Nash said “I felt OK, but my timing was a bit off and my wind wasn’t as good as I wanted it to be.
Mike Keenan said during the game that Nash is a “world class player” and been “nothing short of spectacular.”
Keenan also praised Nash’s ability to not only go to the net, but go to the net with power and bring defenders with him.
Following the game, Keenan said that there aren’t many players that he gets excited about watching, but Nash is one of them, “He was dominant from start to finish. He was the number one star.”
Dave Maloney said that Nash was the catalyst for the Rangers last night.
Mike Sullivan told John Giannone that Nash provides John Tortorella with more options up front and brings more balance.
After the game, John Tortorella said that Nash had an immediate impact and “he played really well…..he played really well.”
On his game, Nash said “I was getting chances all night and they weren’t going in.”
The Rangers have announced that Michael Del Zotto, Rick Nash and Ryan McDonagh will all return to the Rangers lineup tonight.
McDonagh missed Tuesday’s game against Winnipeg, Del Zotto has missed the past two games and Nash has missed the past four games.
Matt Gilroy ha the flu and is out. Arron Asham is out with back spasms.
Henrik Lundqvist is in net.
12:57PM: Rick Nash told Andrew Gross that he feels good, everything has been positive but he will take warm ups tonight and see how he feels before deciding if he will play. Nash said that he is taking thins hour by hour with how he feels.
12:24PM: McDonagh ttold the team’s website, “I’m excited how my body responded to that hit, mentally and physically. MY energy level, I felt like myself again. It was a good thing not to rush back.
On why he needed a couple of days, McDonagh said, “you just seem out of it no matter what you do. I did a couple of light bike rides and I felt like I had just played a game. It was a different feeling, not normal, not myself. I knew I needed to rest a couple of days.”
11:10AM: According to reports from Rangers practice, Dan Rosen and Pat Leonard, Ryan McDonagh will return to the Rangers lineup tonight.
Rick Nash is a game-time decision but will take warm ups and decide if he feels all right.
