Rangers at Coyotes
THE STORY: Perhaps the New York Rangers' have been distracted by the television cameras that are following them around. The Rangers, who along with the Philadelphia Flyers are the subject of HBO’s popular 24/7 documentary series leading up to the Winter Classic, have dropped two straight and are just 2-3-1 over their last six. Scoring goals has been the big problem in the last two contests as the Rangers have managed a total of one tally in losses to the Dallas Stars and St. Louis Blues, respectively. Goaltender Henrik Lundqvist hurt his shoulder in the loss to Dallas, but was back in the lineup for Thursday’s game at St. Louis. New York will continue its three-game road trip with a visit to the Phoenix Coyotes on Saturday. The Coyotes snapped a three-game slide with a 4-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday, marking the first time this month they had managed more than three goals in regulation.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, MSG2 (New York), FSAZ (Phoenix)
ABOUT THE RANGERS (17-8-4): New York had piled up 10 goals in back-to-back wins last weekend but fell flat in its last two contests. After a string of four straight games with at least one power-play goal, the Rangers went 0-for-4 against Dallas and did not get a chance with the man advantage at St. Louis. C Brad Richards has one point in the last four games and was benched, along with linemate Ruslan Fedotenko, for the back half of the first period on Thursday after being on the ice for the Blues’ first two tallies.
ABOUT THE COYOTES (16-12-3): Phoenix, which had been outscored 13-4 during its three-game slide, made more of an effort to attack against the Oilers. The Coyotes registered 42 shots on goal, the first time they had reached 40 since October. Spending all of that time in the attacking zone took the pressure off Mike Smith, who had been in goal for each of the previous three losses. Smith only faced 20 shots against Edmonton, stopping 18.
OVERTIME:
1. The Rangers have taken three straight in the series, but have not won in Phoenix since Oct. 28, 2006.
2. New York captain Ryan Callahan has 15 points in his last 11 games.
3. Phoenix defenseman Derek Morris was a healthy scratch against Edmonton.