Rangers at Hurricanes
Martin St. Louis barely had time to catch his breath during a whirlwind 12-hour span on Wednesday, during which he was traded to the New York Rangers and made his debut with his new club later that night. It also was a dizzying day for the Rangers, who sent captain Ryan Callahan to Tampa Bay in the deal for St. Louis before losing at home in overtime to the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2. New York attempts to halt its three-game winless drought (0-2-1) when it visits the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday.
The Rangers have dropped into third place in the Metropolitan Division and have a bevy of teams poised to overtake them, but they have won nine straight against Carolina and face the Hurricanes twice in the next five days. "We've lost our captain," New York coach Alain Vignault said Thursday. "I understand the feelings that go with that, but the hangover was yesterday, and it has to be a short one." Carolina snapped a five-game losing streak and salvaged the finale of a five-game road trip by beating San Jose in overtime.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, MSG2 (New York), SportSouth (North Carolina)
ABOUT THE RANGERS (33-26-4): St. Louis failed to hit the scoresheet in his debut with New York, registering three shots while reunited with former Lightning teammate Brad Richards on a line with Carl Hagelin. "They're high-quality players," said St. Louis, who had four goals and four assists in his final four games with Tampa Bay. "I'm trying to bring my game and play within their strengths. We had some good looks early on and didn't connect, but I'm encouraged with the first game that we've played together." Defenseman Raphael Diaz, acquired from Vancouver at the trade deadline, will meet the team in Carolina.
ABOUT THE HURRICANES (27-26-9): The recent slide has dropped Carolina into 13th place in the Eastern Conference, and the team desperately needs a win against a club it hasn't beaten since Jan. 20, 2011. The Hurricanes also made a move at the trade deadline, shipping forward Tuomo Ruutu to the New Jersey Devils for forward Andrei Loktionov. "He's a skilled player. I know coming out of junior he was really highly touted," coach Kirk Mueller said of Loktionov. "We'll start him off as the fourth-line center and see what chemistry he has with different guys as we move along."
OVERTIME
1. Rangers G Henrik Lundqvist has won six consecutive starts against Carolina, including a 5-1 victory on Nov. 2.
2. Hurricanes LW Jeff Skinner, mired in an eight-game goalless drought, has five tallies and five assists in 11 games versus New York.
3. St. Louis, who is one shy of his seventh 30-goal season, has 38 tallies and 87 points in 76 contests against Carolina.