Rangers at Hurricanes
Eric Staal will play his first game at PNC Arena as a visitor when the New York Rangers play their next-to-last road contest at the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night. Staal, who was acquired from Carolina at the trade deadline, and the Rangers can clinch a playoff berth by beating the Hurricanes for the 10th straight time.
Staal played his entire career with Carolina since the team selected him as the No. 2 overall pick in the 2003 draft and served as the captain from January 2010 until he was shipped to New York. “There will be a lot of unique, different emotions in general, because of being there and being there so long,” said Staal, who on Wednesday wrote a personal thank you to the organization and the Hurricanes fans in The Players Tribune. The Rangers are trying to hold off the Pittsburgh Penguins for second place in the Metropolitan Division, leading by one point with six games remaining. Carolina is trying to stave off elimination, trailing Philadelphia by seven points for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
TV: 7 p.m. ET; MSG New York, FSN Carolinas, NHL.TV
ABOUT THE RANGERS (43-24-9): Staal scored only 10 times in 63 games with Carolina this season and was mired in a nine-game goalless drought with New York before netting a pair of goals in Saturday's 3-2 loss to the Penguins. “Every game, every day, I’m feeling more comfortable, more confident in the way I can help this team,” said Staal, who admitted it will be a "weird feeling" seeing his younger brother Jordan opposing him Thursday. Staal scored 322 goals in 11-plus seasons with the Hurricanes, including a pair of 40-goal campaigns in 2005-06 and 2008-09.
ABOUT THE HURRICANES (33-28-16): Although Carolina has points in its last four games (2-0-2), Tuesday's 2-1 shootout loss at the New York Islanders was its league-high 16th defeat beyond regulation and its fifth in a row over the past nine games. Goaltender Cam Ward is coming off a strong performance with a 30-save effort in the loss to the Islanders, but he has permitted seven goals in dropping both starts to the Rangers this season. The Hurricanes' power play continues to sputter, converting on 1-of-19 chances over the past eight games.
OVERTIME
1. Rangers G Henrik Lundqvist has allowed four goals in three starts this season to improve to 23-9-1 against Carolina.
2. The Hurricanes recalled F Sergey Tolchinsky from Charlotte of the American Hockey League.
3. New York is 5-for-13 on the power play over the past four games.