Rangers at Hurricanes
The Carolina Hurricanes finally get a chance to play before their home fans, but they will face an arduous task when they host the red-hot New York Rangers on Friday night. The Hurricanes have won only once after they were forced to play their first six games on the road because of the North Carolina State Fair.
After earning its first victory in the final stop of a four-game trek through Western Canada, Carolina surrendered 10 goals in losses at Philadelphia and Detroit. “It’s only six games,” Hurricanes defenseman Justin Faulk said. “It’s tough. We didn’t want to start that way. But there are 82 games in the season. We have time to correct it.” Conversely, the Rangers have played five of their first seven contests on home ice and are riding a three-game winning streak. New York erased an early two-goal deficit in a 5-2 win over Boston on Wednesday.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, MSG (New York), FSN Carolina, TVA
ABOUT THE RANGERS (5-2-0): Offseason acquisition Brandon Pirri, who scored 22 goals in 49 games with Florida in 2014-15, sparked New York's comeback against Boston with a pair of tallies to lift his season total to four. "He's got a knack for the net," teammate Derek Stepan said of Pirri. "It's not easy to score goals in this league and he seems to be in those areas to score. That's a difficult thing and, to me, that's a skill." Forward Chris Kreider will sit out Friday's game due to a neck injury.
ABOUT THE HURRICANES (1-3-2): Carolina set an unwanted tone right out of the game, blowing three-goal leads in each of its first two games in overtime losses at Winnipeg and Vancouver. "I want to tighten up our game. Last year we had an identity as a team. I really liked the identity that we forged," coach Bill Peters said. "It took us a while to get there. Unfortunately, this year, it’s taking us longer to get there." Forward Jeff Skinner missed Tuesday's game at Detroit but hopes to be in the lineup Friday.
OVERTIME
1. Rangers RW Josh Jooris is expected to miss at least three weeks with a separated left shoulder.
2. Hurricanes C Victor Rask has scored in every game, the fifth-longest point streak to start a season in club history.
3. Rangers D Dylan McIlrath, a 2010 first-round draft pick, was placed on waivers Thursday.