Rangers at Red Wings
The New York Rangers lead the Eastern Conference wild-card standings by a wide margin, so the news that goaltender Henrik Lundqvist will miss 2-to-3 weeks with a strained hip muscle is bad, but not devastating. Antti Raanta takes over the No. 1 role in net as New York completes a four-game road trip Sunday against the Detroit Red Wings, and the career backup is charged with keeping the Rangers playoff-bound.
“I don’t try to be Hank, I just try to be myself,” Raanta told reporters. “I know that every time when I play, it’s always a big thing for me to show what I can do. That’s what I try to do right now.” Raanta is 13-6-0 with a 2.32 goals-against average and .922 save percentage - better numbers than Lundqvist's, except for wins - in 23 games (19 starts) this season and 44-21-7, 2.34, .917 in 87 career contests (71 starts). New York is fourth in the Metropolitan Division and was four points behind Columbus and Pittsburgh entering Saturday, and if the Rangers remain in that position, they would play the Atlantic champion in the first round. Detroit, which is last in the Atlantic, has no such playoff thoughts as it plays out the string that will all but assuredly end without a postseason appearance for the first time since 1989-90.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NBCSN
ABOUT THE RANGERS (43-23-2): New York also was without offensive threats Michael Grabner (26 goals) and Rick Nash (18) in Thursday's 4-3 loss in Carolina - one game after Lundqvist was injured in a 5-2 victory at Florida on Tuesday. Coach Alain Vigneault said he expects Grabner, who has missed the last five games with a hip injury, and Nash (upper body) - only out against the Hurricanes - to return Sunday. J.T. Miller leads the team with 49 points but has recorded only three in his last 12 contests after a seven-game point streak produced 11, while Chris Kreider also has notched 26 goals, scoring in each of the last two contests and three in his past four games.
ABOUT THE RED WINGS (26-29-11): Jimmy Howard returned to make 24 saves in Friday's 4-2 victory over Chicago - his first game since sustaining a knee injury on Dec. 20. "I was a little jumpy at first. I think it was the nerves. But I was able to settle down,'' Howard told reporters. "As soon as I had some pucks stick to me the last minute of the first period, I felt more and more at home out there." Captain Henrik Zetterberg (team bests of 55 points and 41 assists) recorded a pair of assists Friday for his sixth two-point performance in the last nine contests and has registered at least one point in eight games during that span.
OVERTIME
1. The Rangers recalled G Magnus Hellberg from Hartford of the American Hockey League to back up Raanta. The 6-6 Swede has made three relief appearances in the NHL - one each in 2013-14, 2015-16 and 2016-17, when he made four saves in a 7-6 loss to Dallas on Jan. 17 without recording the decision.
2. Detroit rookie RW Anthony Mantha (14 goals, 33 points) was a healthy scratch Friday, falling out of favor with coach Jeff Blashill.
3. The Original Six rivals split the first two meetings of the three-game season series, with each club scoring two goals, while the Red Wings have won nine of the last 11 encounters at home.