Rangers at Ducks
The New York Rangers have stumbled for the better part of two weeks with losses in five of their last seven contests, including the first two stops on their four-game road trip. The Rangers aim to regain their footing on Tuesday against a team that they have dominated of late: the Anaheim Ducks.
New York has outscored Anaheim 27-14 en route to winning six of the last seven encounters, including a 4-1 romp at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 19. David Desharnais had two assists in that meeting against the Ducks and netted a power-play goal in Sunday's 4-2 setback at Los Angeles. Like New York, Anaheim was also victimized on its penalty kill as it allowed two power-play goals in a 6-2 loss to San Jose on Sunday. "We took stick penalties. There is no aggression in a stick penalty," said captain Ryan Getzlaf, who scored and set up a goal against the Sharks and had an assist on Ondrej Kase's tally in the first meeting with the Rangers.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, MSG-Plus (New York), Prime (Anaheim)
ABOUT THE RANGERS (24-19-5): Mats Zuccarello has answered a modest three-game point drought by setting up goals in each of his last two contests, raising his team-leading totals in assists (26) and points (34) while moving with four of 300 points for his career. The 30-year-old Norwegian set up a goal in the previous encounter with Anaheim and has secured at least a point in six of the last seven meetings. Michael Grabner scored one of his team-leading 20 goals versus the Ducks in December, and he also tallied twice against the club on Feb. 7 at Madison Square Garden.
ABOUT THE DUCKS (22-17-9): Kase is also enjoying a power surge as his assist on Getzlaf's goal Sunday was his 11th point (six goals, five assists) in his last 11 contests. Speaking of Getzlaf, the 32-year-old has 21 points (four goals, 17 assists) in his last 17 games while Rickard Rakell has 14 points (nine goals, five assists) in the past 13 contests. Rakell, who scored and set up a goal versus San Jose, has tallied six times in his last six home games to raise his team-leading total to 17.
OVERTIME
1. Anaheim F Adam Henrique has two goals and an assist during his three-game point streak.
2. New York boasts an impressive 7-3-0 record in 10 games versus Pacific Division representatives this season.
3. Ducks G John Gibson owns an 0-3-1 mark with a 3.31 goals-against average and .864 save percentage in five career meetings with the Rangers.