Wild at Rangers
While the New York Rangers have struggled with consistency since their blistering 16-3-2 start to the season, they own an impressive record at home and can build on that success against the skidding Minnesota Wild on Thursday. New York is 5-0-1 in its last six home games to boost its record at Madison Square Garden to 18-5-2.
Rick Nash is expected to miss his fourth straight game due to a bone bruise in his knee for the Rangers, who suffered another key injury in Tuesday's 3-2 loss at New Jersey. Defenseman Kevin Klein, who missed 11 games in December due to a strained oblique, suffered a fractured right thumb and is out indefinitely. The Wild will stumble into Madison Square Garden with eight losses in nine games (1-7-1) following a 5-3 setback at the New York Islanders on Tuesday. "It's not like we are playing real well and just getting unlucky," Minnesota coach Mike Yeo said. "Maybe a couple of games we had, but for the most part, we've had games and we've lost them, and that's what we have to fix."
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN North, FSN Wisconsin (Minnesota), MSG2 (New York)
ABOUT THE WILD (23-18-9): Minnesota has scored a total of 14 goals during its nine-game tailspin, and the constant losing is taking a toll on the team's psyche. "That's how it's going right now, we just don't have that confidence that we did at the beginning of the year," defenseman Ryan Suter told reporters. "When you have that confidence, you can get away with having a mishap or a couple throughout the game. Now it's costing us." All-Star Devan Dubnyk, who sparked Minnesota's playoff drive last season, was yanked Tuesday after allowing five goals and fell to 0-5-1 in his last six starts.
ABOUT THE RANGERS (27-18-5): New York's struggling power play failed on all four chances against the Devils to fall to 2-for-39 since the Christmas break while allowing New Jersey to convert on both of its chances with the man advantage. "It's really frustrating," captain Ryan McDonagh said. "We need everybody to execute a lot better. It's costing us too many games. We need to be a lot better in the special teams." J.T. Miller continued his goal-scoring binge by netting both goals in Tuesday's loss, giving him seven tallies in seven games to increase his career-best total to 15.
OVERTIME
1. Suter will appear in his 800th career game.
2. Rangers rookie D Dylan McIlrath will take Klein's place in the lineup.
3. Wild captain Mikko Koivu scored two goals and set up another in a 5-2 home win over the Rangers on Dec. 17.