German_Force » Ovechkin and Tampa Bay’s Nikita

NEW YORK (AP) — Vic Hadfield joined his former GAG Line teammates as the latest to have his number retired by the New York Rangers.A banner with his name and No. 11 was raised to the rafters at Madison Square Garden on Sunday in a ceremony before the Rangers hosted the Winnipeg Jets.Hadfield had 262 goals and 310 assists in 841 games over parts of 13 seasons in New York before he was traded to Pittsburgh in May 1974 and finished his career with the Penguins in 1976. With the Rangers Carey Price Jersey , he was the left wing on a line with Jean Ratelle and Rod Gilbert — dubbed the GAG Line for “goal a game.”Hadfield, a Rangers captain from 1971-74, received an ovation from the crowd when he was announced and walked out on the red carpet on the ice, and then again when he was called up to the podium by Gilbert.“I can’t explain how incredible and amazing it is to stand before you and accept this tribute tonight,” the 78-year-lold Hadfield said. “This is such an honor, a privilege for any player.”Hadfield became the 10th player to have his number retired by the Rangers, and his No. 11 — also retired for Mark Messier — is the second to be selected for two players. The other is No. 9, retired for Adam Graves and Andy Bathgate. Ed Giacomin (1), Brian Leetch (2), Harry Howell (3), Gilbert (7), Ratelle (19) and Mike Richter (35) have also been honored.“A special thank you to Rod and Jean,” Hadfield said. “I certainly wouldn’t be able to be here without you two.”Giacomin, Richter, Messier Jeff Petry Jersey Kids , Leetch, Graves, Ratelle and Gilbert also attended the ceremony, while Howell and Bathgate were represented by family members. Some of Hadfield’s former teammates were also present, including Ron Greschner, Steve Vickers, Bob Nevin, Bruce MacGregor, Ted Irvine, Bill Fairbarn, Pete Stemkowski,k Walt Tkaczuk, Tim Neilson, Brad Park and 91-year-old former coach Emile Francis.The GAG Line’s big season was in 1971-72 when they finished third, fourth and fifth in the league in points and Hadfield and Ratelle became the first two Rangers to reach 100 points. Hadfield was the first Rangers player to score 50 goals that season Jonathan Drouin Jersey , and Ratelle — who suffered an ankle injury late in the season — set a franchise record with 109 points that stood until Jaromir Jagr had 123 in 2005-06.“Our line had great chemistry and we made each other better players,” Ratelle said.Francis added: “I’m so proud all three of their names will be together on the roof.”Hadfield was presented with a specially inscribed commemorative watch, a standard-sized sideboard with names of his 132 teammates during his tenure with the Rangers, and a five-day cruise with his family.Current Rangers players sat on the bench during the ceremony, all wearing No. 11 jerseys with Hadfield’s name on the back.The ceremony for Hadfield was announced on Feb. 28, after Ratelle had his number retired.“I didn’t have a clue,” Hadfield said before Sunday’s ceremony. “When Rod announced it, it was quite a shock, and emotional.” NEW YORK (AP) Patrik Laine went more than a year between hat tricks, and still the 19-year-old Finnish star is on a remarkable pace.Laine got his fourth hat trick and set a career high with his 38th goal, lifting the Winnipeg Jets over the New York Rangers 3-0 on Tuesday night.The 19-year-old star had been the youngest ever with three hat tricks – getting there at 18 years, 302 days – but it had been over a year since his last three-goal game. He joins Jimmy Carson and Dale Hawerchuk as the only players with four hat tricks before turning 20.Laine has at least a point in nine straight games (13 goals, six assists) and has scored multiple goals in four of his past five contests. He’s two goals behind Washington’s Alex Ovechkin for the NHL lead this season.Laine has taken off since being put on a line with Nikolaj Ehlers and Paul Stastny.”Our line is playing pretty good hockey,” Laine said.Laine is the first visiting teenager with a hat trick at Madison Square Garden since Toronto’s Ted Kennedy on Dec. 27, 1944 http://www.officialcanadiensprostore.com/authentic-adidas-karl-alzner-jersey , according to Sportsnet Stats.Steve Mason made 31 saves as the Jets extended their winning streak to three. Winnipeg has earned points in seven straight road games (6-0-1) and improved to 14-6-5 against the Eastern Conference.”He didn’t get overworked,” Jets coach Paul Maurice said. ”He had a couple of tough ones early, a couple of squeezers right around the net that he made a good save on, and then a lot of what came to him, he saw clean, so it was a good start for sure.”Henrik Lundqvist made his 798th career appearance and stopped 31 shots as the Rangers lost for the first time in four games. Lundqvist made 50 saves in each of his previous two games.”At the end of the night, we tried hard and tried battling back in the third,” Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said. ”That’s a real good team we played tonight and they were able to get their best shooter to get a few good looks.”Laine opened the scoring by putting a wrist shot past Lundqvist at 19:05 of the first period. He added on midway through the second period when he snapped off another wrist shot, then scored into an empty net with 34 seconds left.Laine, the third overall pick of the 2016 draft, scored 36 goals in his rookie season. He leads the NHL in goals since entering the league with 74. Ovechkin and Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov each have 73.Mason made his first appearance since Jan. 9th, when he was sidelined with a concussion. The veteran will play important minutes down the stretch as Winnipeg looks to lighten Connor Hellebuyck’s workload before the playoffs. The franchise hopes to win a playoff series for the first time in its history.Winnipeg teammates Mark Schiefele and Blake Wheeler collided in the first period. Schiefele initially returned to action but was later ruled out for the game with an upper-body injury. His last shift ended with 3:58 remaining in the second period.Rangers forward Vladislav Namestnikov skated in his first game at MSG since being acquired at the trade deadline from the Tampa Bay Lightning.NOTES: Twelve members of the gold medal-winning U.S. women’s Olympic hockey team were honored during the first period. … Rangers F Pavel Buchnevich skated in his 100th game. … Rangers F Mika Zibanejad missed the game with the flu. … Rangers D Kevin Shattenkirk skated with the team in practice for the first time since having a knee operation in January. … Winnipeg sent goalie Michael Hutchinson to the AHL to make room for Mason. … Defenseman Toby Enstrom missed his fourth consecutive game.UP NEXTJets: Play at New Jersey on Thursday night.Rangers: Play at Tampa Bay on Thursday night.—