Maple Leafs at Rangers
The New York Rangers look to extend their point streak to six contests on Friday when they continue their three-game homestand against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Although New York cruised to a 4-1 victory over Calgary on Sunday to improve to 3-0-2 in its last five contests, coach Alain Vigneault isn't convinced he's receiving all that he can out of his charges.
"If you would go through our whole group and ask them to rate themselves from one to 10, other than both goaltenders, maybe (defenseman Kevin Klein) and (center Derek Stepan) to some extent, there’d be a lot of people that would be hovering on getting a talk from their mother about their marks on their first report card," Vigneault told the New York Daily News. If that's the case, imagine the conversations being held for the mothers of the Maple Leafs, who have dropped four in a row (0-3-1). Like New York, Toronto has had plenty of time in between games as it suffered a 4-3 home setback to Arizona on Monday. Defenseman Morgan Rielly has scored in consecutive games and tallied twice in his last meeting with the Rangers.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, RSNO (Toronto), MSG (New York)
ABOUT THE MAPLE LEAFS (1-5-2): Coach Mike Babcock could see the returns of forward Tyler Bozak and blue-liner Jake Gardiner, who are both nursing back injuries. "Hopefully we can get some chemistry and help the guys win (Friday)," Bozak told the team's website. "I'm feeling really good now and just excited to get back out there." Jonathan Bernier is searching for his first win this season (0-4-1), but is 2-1-2 in his career versus the Rangers.
ABOUT THE RANGERS (6-2-2): With just one goal and two assists, Rick Nash hasn't gotten out of the blocks the way he would've liked, but a date with Toronto could be just what the doctor ordered. The top-line forward notched three assists in his last meeting and collected five points in the teams' three-game series in 2014-15. Rookie Oscar Lindberg is enjoying a scintillating start with a team-leading five goals and seven points.
OVERTIME
1. New York G Henrik Lundqvist, who has been confirmed to start on Friday, has dropped five of his last eight decisions (3-4-1) versus Toronto.
2. The Maple Leafs signed Rich Clune to a contract on Thursday and placed fellow F Marc Arcobello on waivers.
3. Toronto took two of three from its Original Six rival last season, with the teams combining for 27 goals.