Rangers at Hurricanes
The Carolina Hurricanes seek their fifth victory in six games and attempt to stave off playoff elimination for another day when they host the New York Rangers on Saturday. The Hurricanes knocked off Metropolitan Division-leading Washington 4-1 on Friday to keep alive their faint postseason chances but will need four victories and a lot of help to accomplish their goal.
Sebastian Aho gives Carolina plenty of hope for the future as the speedy forward scored his career-best 28th goal in Friday’s win for his 13th point in 11 contests and team-leading 64th of the season. The Hurricanes are eight points behind New Jersey for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference and have played one more game, while the Rangers have gone 1-4-2 in their last seven contests, getting eliminated from playoff consideration en route to that mark. New York took an early lead on Friday but watched Tampa Bay score five times in the third period to suffer a 7-3 defeat. The Rangers, who finished with a 21-16-4 record at home, play their final four games on the road, where they have struggled to a 12-20-5 mark.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, MSG2 (New York), FS Carolinas
ABOUT THE RANGERS (33-36-9): Rookie Filip Chytil, an 18-year-old Czech who was selected in the first round of last June's draft, scored his first NHL goal on Friday to give him two points in his first five contests. Mats Zuccarello notched an assist against the Lightning to increase his team-high total to 52 points while Mika Zibanejad leads New York with a career-best 27 goals and is second with 47 points. Vladislav Namestnikov, who was acquired from Tampa Bay at the trade deadline, recorded two points in his first game with the Rangers but has registered only one in 14 contests since.
ABOUT THE HURRICANES (35-32-11): Teuvo Teravainen snapped his three-game point drought with an assist on Friday and is second on the team with a career-high 62 points. Rookie Valentin Zykov has been quite productive since coming up from the minors, as the former second-round draft pick has recorded three goals and three assists in six games to give him seven points in his first eight NHL contests. Veteran Cam Ward, who was rested in favor of Scott Darling on Friday, is likely to get the start and go after his fourth consecutive victory.
OVERTIME
1. The Rangers have won five of the last six meetings, including both matchups in New York this season.
2. New York G Henrik Lundqvist, who was rested on Friday, is likely to get the start as he is 27-11-1 lifetime against the Hurricanes.
3. Carolina LW Jeff Skinner was kept off the scoresheet Friday but has posted six points and a plus-3 rating in his last five contests.