Rangers at Ducks
After being on the business end of a nine-goal drubbing, the New York Rangers continue their franchise-record nine-game road trip on Thursday, when they visit the Anaheim Ducks. Alain Vigneault's club was stunned by the four-goal performance of rookie Tomas Hertl as the San Jose Sharks breezed to victory on Tuesday. Captain Ryan Callahan and stud goaltender Henrik Lundqvist stated the obvious after jointly saying that the Rangers were "embarrassed" in that 9-2 setback.
To add injury to insult, All-Star forward Rick Nash exited the contest after absorbing an elbow to the head from defenseman Brad Stuart - resulting in a three-game suspension for the latter. Anaheim enters its home opener on the strength of back-to-back one-goal victories following a 6-1 loss to Colorado in the season opener. Mathieu Perreault has scored in both wins while combining with fellow newcomer Jakob Silfverberg for three goals and two assists in the last two games.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, MSG (New York), Prime Ticket (Anaheim)
ABOUT THE RANGERS (1-2-0): The much-maligned Brad Richards has started the season in impressive fashion, scoring three times while showing renewed life in the wake of New York's coaching change. The 33-year-old has fared well on a line with Nash and Derek Stepan, with the latter two notching three assists apiece. Lundqvist yielded four goals on 26 shots before making an early exit versus San Jose but expects to be back in net on Thursday.
ABOUT THE DUCKS (2-1-0): Anaheim certainly is well-rested, having posted a 3-2 victory over Winnipeg on Sunday in Teemu Selanne's last regular-season trip to Manitoba. The future Hall of Famer didn't score in the contest, but the former Jet was welcomed with open arms nonetheless despite wearing the visitor's sweater. With an unintentional assist from Winnipeg defenseman Zach Bogosian, Corey Perry netted his first goal of the season in the victory.
OVERTIME
1. Ducks RW Emerson Etem (lower body) will make his season debut versus the Rangers, but C Kyle Palmieri has been ruled out with an upper-body injury.
2. New York RW Derek Dorsett scored on a breakaway Tuesday for his first goal as a member of the team.
3. Anaheim has collected 18 of a possible 24 points (8-2-2) against New York at home.