Carolina Hurricanes to Host the New York Rangers for a Metro Showdown

The Carolina Hurricanes are hoping to bring the momentum from an overtime win in Toronto back to PNC Arena tonight. They will face Henrik Lundquist’s Rangers, hoping to move up even closer to a playoff spot.

After a much needed three day break, following a 5-0 whoopin’ at the hands of the Penguins, the Hurricanes played a very tight-checking Maple Leafs team last night, prevailing with a Jordan Staal overtime winner.

They really need to continue the winning trend, especially against division rivals like New York, if they want to keep their playoff drive alive. Hopefully the good vibrations from the overtime win in Toronto will translate into a strong showing against one of the leading teams in the Hurricanes’ division and conference.

More from Cardiac Cane – Hurricanes Get Overtime Heroics to Shutout the Maple Leafs

Game Information

New York Rangers at Carolina Hurricanes

January 22, 2016, 7:00 pm

PNC Arena, Raleigh, NC

Fox Sports Carolina – 99.9 FM The Fan

Season Records

Carolina Hurricanes – 21-19-8 – 50 points – 6th in Metro – 12th in Eastern

New York Rangers – 25-16-5 – 55 points – 2nd in Metro – 4th in Eastern

Team Records – Last 10-20-30 Games with Points %

Carolina Hurricanes – 5-2-3 (65%) – 11-5-4 (65%) – 15-9-6 (60%)

New York Rangers – 5-4-1 (55%) – 8-10-2 (45%) – 13-14-3 (48%)

Team/Game Notes

A quick look at the season standings and point totals might make anyone think that the Rangers are a superior team to the Hurricanes, and therefore, must be a favorite for the game tonight. A closer look at the records and points percentages above show another story. The Canes started out very slow this season, digging a hole that they are now climbing out of by racking up close to 65% of the available points in the last 30 games. The Rangers, on the other hand, started out gang-busters, winning night after night. That trend has significantly decreased over the last 30 games, with their points percentages hovering in the 50% range. The Canes appear by the numbers to be going in the right direction.

Carolina Hurricanes

With Cam Ward recovering from a concussion, Eddie Lack was stellar, turning away all 32 shots and recording his first shutout of the season. His most important stop probably came with a great glove save on a shorthanded, end-to-end breakaway for Michael Grabner. Although many Canes fans are hoping newly called-up Daniel Altshuller gets a start soon, Coach Peters will probably ride a hot-handed Lack until he needs to get off.

Jordan Staal was the workhorse last night in Toronto, playing tirelessly through three scoreless periods. His hard work paid off in spades with the game winner. If he and his “Grind Line” continue their great play the Canes should be able to continue their winning ways.

Rangers signed Daniel Paille, who was playing with the Blackhawks’ AHL affiliate Rockford Icehogs after being cut by the parent team. The Rangers were able to sign him to a prorated one-year, two-way deal worth $575,000 in the NHL and $100,000 in the AHL. New York hopes Paille can bring his well-known grit to a Rangers penalty kill that is wallowing at 25th in the league.

Chris Kreider skipped practice on Thursday with a sore neck, but did hit the ice on his own after. If he’s feeling good today Coach Alain Vigneault will have him in the lineup. If not, Paille could get his first start against the Canes. Derek Brassard should be back in the lineup for the game tonight after missing the last game with a bad case of the flu.

Next: Hurricanes Reportedly Interested in Jonathan Drouin Trade according to Renaud Lavoie

With three games in four days – Toronto last night, New York tonight and Calgary on Sunday – having six points in the bank as the All Star break approaches would go a long way to improving the Canes’ playoff outlook. It would also put to rest the opinions of all those naysayers who never thought our Hurricanes would be in this position when the season started.

Go Canes!