Rangers at Sharks
Goaltender Henrik Lundqvist remains in search of his first victory this month for the New York Rangers, who will wrap up their three-game California road trip with a visit to the San Jose Sharks on Saturday afternoon. The Rangers are 1-0-1 on the trek after blowing a two-goal lead in the third period of Thursday's 4-3 overtime loss to Los Angeles.
New York was 24-1-1 when leading after two periods and squandered a chance to open up more ground on the New York Islanders, who trail the Rangers in the Metropolitan Division by three points with two games in hand. "We got three points out of four in two of the toughest buildings in the league," coach Alain Vigneault said of the split versus Anaheim and Los Angeles. The Sharks are three points behind the second-place Ducks in the Pacific, blowing a chance to leapfrog Anaheim with a 3-1 loss at Arizona on Thursday. San Jose, which is opening a six-game homestand, has been tormented by the Rangers, getting outscored 11-1 while losing three straight in the series.
TV: 4 p.m. ET, MSG-Plus (New York), CSN California (San Jose)
ABOUT THE RANGERS (40-23-8): Lundqvist, who missed three games due to neck spasms earlier in the month, dropped to 0-2-2 with a 3.76 goals-against average in March and was flustered after he felt he was interfered with on the tying goal. "That means you can pretty much put a guy in the crease and as long as the goalie doesn't get run over, it's a good goal," Lundqvist told reporters. Forward Rick Nash is having trouble getting involved in the offense since sitting out 20 games with a bone bruise in his leg, failing to hit the scoresheet in all four contests.
ABOUT THE SHARKS (39-25-6): San Jose not only had a pair of goals disallowed in Thursday's demoralizing loss but also came out of the game with injuries to forward Matt Nieto and defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic, the severity of which has yet to be determined. "We had a couple guys go down. We’ll see how they feel tomorrow," Sharks coach Peter DeBoer told reporters. Joe Thornton assisted on San Jose's lone goal Thursday to give him at least one point in 36 of his last 41 games, but he has been held off the scoresheet in four straight against the Rangers.
OVERTIME
1. Thornton needs one point to move past Pierre Turgeon (1,327) and into sole possession of 31st on the career list.
2. Rangers C J.T. Miller scored one goal and set up another Thursday to extend his point streak to three games.
3. The Sharks haven't lost back-to-back games in regulation since Jan. 2-7.
OVERTIME: Rangers 3, Sharks 2