Maple Leafs at Rangers
After cruising into the Olympic break on torrid stretches, the New York Rangers and Toronto Maple Leafs have cooled considerably in three games following the lengthy hiatus. The Original Six rivals look to turn around their recent fortunes when they meet at Madison Square Garden in New York on Wednesday. The Rangers upended reigning Stanley Cup champion Chicago last Thursday before suffering setbacks to Philadelphia and Boston over the weekend, while Toronto has dropped three straight (0-1-2) since the Sochi Games.
"The three losses hurt because we had points available to us on the road," Maple Leafs coach Randy Carlyle said. "That's the hard part, losing two overtime games on the road when we had one-goal leads in both games." Toronto was done in by a former Ranger on Monday as Artem Anisimov scored for the third straight contest to lead Columbus to a 2-1 triumph. New York has won both meetings with Toronto this season - including a decisive 7-1 triumph on Jan. 4 - and six of the last seven matchups overall.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, TSN, RDS2 (Toronto), MSG Plus (New York)
ABOUT THE MAPLE LEAFS (32-23-8): United States Olympians Phil Kessel and James van Riemsdyk saw their respective four-game point streaks come to an end on Monday. The former had collected 13 goals and 18 assists in his previous 17 games, but the Maple Leafs have sputtered to a 4-17-2 mark when Kessel fails to record a point. Van Riemsdyk has recorded four goals and three assists in the last five games, although he was held off the scoresheet in both meetings with New York this season.
ABOUT THE RANGERS (33-26-3): Brad Richards scored in New York's 6-3 setback to the Bruins on Sunday to increase his point total to six (three goals, three assists) in his last seven games. The veteran also tallied in the rout against the Maple Leafs in January. Henrik Lundqvist received the night off in that contest but has yielded 10 goals in two losses since returning from Russia after leading Team Sweden to a silver medal.
OVERTIME
1. Rangers LW Mats Zuccarello (hand) could return to the lineup as early as Friday against Carolina, coach Alain Vigneault told the New York Daily News.
2. Toronto has failed on all 13 power-play opportunities over its last six games.
3. New York is 2-for-8 with the man advantage in its last three contests after going 2-for-18 in the previous seven.