Oilers at Rangers
The start of November hasn't been one to remember for the New York Rangers, who have dropped three of four (1-1-2) heading into Sunday's home game against the Edmonton Oilers. While his team is sputtering, Rick Nash continued his torrid streak by tying Anaheim's Corey Perry with his 11th goal in Saturday's 5-4 road loss to Toronto. Mats Zuccarello collected a goal and an assist versus the Maple Leafs and joined Nash by scoring twice in the Rangers last meeting with the Oilers - a 5-0 rout on March 30.
Edmonton secured its first road victory in six tries (1-4-1) when it skated to a 3-2 triumph over Buffalo on Friday. Boyd Gordon and Mark Arcobello each scored for the second time in as many games, with the former netting the game-winner with 4:15 remaining in the third period. "It was a big win for us," Gordon told the Edmonton Journal. "Hopefully, it can turn the road trip around for us and get us going in the right direction."
TV: 6 p.m. ET, RSN West (Edmonton), MSG (New York)
ABOUT THE OILERS (5-7-1): Although Iiro Pakarinen cleaned up a rebound to score his first career goal early in the second period on Friday, the rookie was more impressed with the end result. "It's great to score a goal in the best league in the world, but the most important thing is that we got two points," Pakarinen told the Edmonton Journal. While the 23-year-old Finn has just two NHL contests under his belt, captain Andrew Ference has decidedly more (842, to be exact) and is eligible to return to the lineup after serving his three-game suspension.
ABOUT THE RANGERS (6-5-2): Derek Stepan recorded an assist but lost 13-of-19 faceoffs in his season debut after suffering a fractured fibula during practice on Sept. 24. Stepan has recorded at least one point in 16 of his last 24 regular-season games and is two shy of 200 for his career. Cam Talbot faced Edmonton in both meetings last season, but Henrik Lundqvist will get the call on Sunday as he looks to improve upon a 1-1-2 career mark versus the Oilers.
OVERTIME
1. New York LW Chris Kreider scored 53 seconds into Saturday's contest to match his career-high point streak of three games.
2. Edmonton is just 1-for-22 on the power play in its last six contests.
3. Zuccarello is one point shy of 100 for his career.