Hurricanes at Rangers
The New York Rangers have cooled off considerably after their hot start to the season but have a chance to beat the same opponent for the second time in a five-day span when the Carolina Hurricanes pay a visit on Saturday afternoon. New York erased a two-goal deficit to post a 3-2 win over the visiting Hurricanes on Tuesday night.
The Rangers were on the other end of a third-period comeback Thursday night in Buffalo, giving up a pair of goals to suffer their first loss when leading after two periods (13-1-0). "Any time you have a lead there you don't want to give it up and that's uncharacteristic for us," New York captain Ryan McDonagh said. Carolina followed up loss to the Rangers with another crushing defeat, allowing a last-minute tying goal before falling in a shootout 2-1 at Boston. The Hurricanes are trying to break a lengthy drought, having dropped 12 in a row at Madison Square Garden.
TV: 1 p.m. ET, FSN Carolina, MSG (New York)
ABOUT THE HURRICANES (9-9-5): Carolina, which already is without Jordan Staal (concussion), lost another player to injury when Elias Lindholm exited Thursday's loss and was not at practice Friday. Jeff Skinner assisted on the Hurricanes' lone goal in Boston, but he also was denied on a breakaway late in overtime and was unable to convert in the shootout. Skinner does have three goals and four assists in the last eight games overall and has popped in 10 goals and 19 assists in 24 games versus New York.
ABOUT THE RANGERS (16-8-1): Rick Nash scored a career-low 15 goals last season, a dramatic dip after he pumped in a career-best 42 tallies for New York in 2014-15. The 32-year-old power forward has regained his touch this season, scoring four times in his last six games -- including a goal and an assist against Carolina earlier in the week -- to move into second place on the team with 11 tallies. Henrik Lundqvist takes a 24-11-1 and 2.11 goals-against average versus Carolina into Saturday's start.
OVERTIME
1. New York is 20-3-0 against the Hurricanes since Feb. 22, 2011.
2. Hurricanes G Cam Ward is 0-3-1 in his last four games, receiving a total of five goals of offensive support.
3. The Rangers are 3-for-4 on the power play the past two games after a 1-for-15 stretch in the previous six contests.