Rangers at Stars
Derek Stepan and the surging New York Rangers aim to continue their torrid play when they visit the Dallas Stars on Monday. Stepan recorded his third career hat trick and extended his point streak to five games as the Rangers skated to their eighth straight win, a 3-1 triumph over the New Jersey Devils on Saturday. "I don't think we got it all the way back," Stepan said. "... We were certainly close, so we just have to continue to work, continue to find that jump that got us the seven wins before the break."
New York is enjoying its longest winning streak in 40 years and has secured a point in 15 of its last 19 contests (13-4-2). Dallas isn't doing too shabby in its own right with victories in five of its last six heading into Monday's opener of a three-game homestand. Defensemen Trevor Daley and Jason Demers scored power-play goals in the second period to fuel the Stars to a 4-3 triumph over St. Louis on Saturday.
TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, MSG (New York), FSN Southwest (Dallas)
ABOUT THE RANGERS (19-10-4): Victories on Monday and also at Florida two days later will match the longest winning streak in franchise history for New York, which claimed 10 consecutive decisions from Jan. 19-Feb. 10, 1973 and Dec. 19, 1939-Jan. 13, 1940. "We want to climb as high as we can in the standings and not be satisfied with eight in a row here," defenseman Dan Girardi told the New York Daily News. Rick Nash has scored six goals during the team's winning streak, Stepan has netted four and J.T. Miller three despite being a healthy scratch on Saturday.
ABOUT THE STARS (15-14-5): The power-play surge on Saturday certainly was a welcome sight for Dallas, which had been 1-for-12 with the man advantage in its previous five games. "Always a good feeling, got two (power-play goals on Saturday), got the two points, so (we're) going home happy," Daley said. Tyler Seguin leads the league with 25 goals but has just one in 13 career meetings with the Rangers, while captain Jamie Benn has been held off the scoresheet in all five contests versus New York.
OVERTIME
1. New York G Henrik Lundqvist has posted a 1.54 goals-against average and .940 save percentage during his career high-tying seven-game winning streak.
2. The Rangers have collected at least a point in all five meetings versus Central Division representatives (2-0-3) this season, while the Stars are 4-2-1 versus Metropolitan Division foes.
3. Stepan, who has scored four goals and set up four others during his point streak, has one tally and eight assists in nine road games this season.