Hurricanes at Rangers
The New York Rangers are on a roll and expect to have standout forward Rick Nash back in the lineup as they go for their sixth consecutive victory against the visiting Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday night. The Rangers have surged to the top of the Metropolitan Division on the heels of a 7-0-1 stretch during which they permitted a combined nine goals.
Nash, who has only one goal in 12 games, returns after missing the past two contests due to tightness in his back. It will be a milestone night for New York's Henrik Lundqvist, who will surpass Mike Richter for the most appearances by a goaltender in franchise history. Carolina halted a two-game skid with a dramatic overtime win over visiting Ottawa on Saturday night, prevailing 3-2 after tying the game with 3.3 seconds left in regulation. "We needed to be a desperate team and we were," Hurricanes coach Bill Peters said.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN Carolina, MSG-Plus (New York)
ABOUT THE HURRICANES (6-8-0): Carolina has not produced more than three goals in 10 straight games, although it has generated plenty of scoring chances in the past eight contests. “That’s been our history the past few years,” assistant coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “We have a tendency to get a lot of shots but we’re not a real, real gifted team to put the puck in the net that much. We need to create more and find more ways to get more Grade A chances.” Jordan Staal has scored in each of the last three contests, including the game-winner Saturday.
ABOUT THE RANGERS (10-2-2): Nash was hurt during practice last Thursday but pronounced himself ready to return after skating with linemates Derick Brassard and Mats Zuccarello on Monday. "Everything felt good out there," Nash said. "Each day it got better, each day there was progress. We did double treatments every day. Hopefully if everything goes good tonight I'll be playing." Lundqvist won all three starts versus the Hurricanes last season, allowing four goals, to improve his record against them to 20-9-1 with a 2.10 goals-against average.
OVERTIME
1. The Rangers have won six in a row versus Carolina, although three of last season's five meetings were decided in a shootout.
2. The Hurricanes recalled F Joakim Nordstrom from Charlotte of the American Hockey League.
3. New York is allowing a league-low 1.7 goals per game.