Tonight the Carolina Hurricanes head to New York to face an old foe in the New York Rangers. Over the years, the Rangers and Canes have developed a nice inter-division rivalry. This will be a very big test for Rod Brind’Amour’s group.
The history between the two clubs have not gone the way of Carolina for quite some time as the Hurricanes all-time record against the Rangers is just 60-80-7-9. Similarly bad, Carolina has a record of 23-47-4-5 at Madison Square Garden.
The puck drops tonight at 7 P.M.
The two teams sit atop the Metro Division early in the season as the Rangers are coming home from a 5 win road trip where they defeated the Seattle Kraken, Winnipeg Jets, Vancouver Canucks, Edmonton Oilers, and the Calgary Flames.
The 14 points for the big apple team has them in the top 5 of the NHL.
The Canes will have a chance to prove to the hockey world that they have overcome the dip in play, experienced on the road trip.
The Rangers stars have picked up where they left off last season with Artemi Panarin leading the way with 15 points from 5 goals and 10 assists. Chris Kreider leads the way with 6 goals and 4 of them being on the man advantage.
Adam Fox has gotten off to a great start, chasing another Norris Trophy, with 11 points from 8 assists and 3 power-play goals.
The Canes will need to keep their heads up when entering the offensive zone as the Rangers have big, physical defensemen like their captain, Jacob Trouba.
Former Canes coach, Peter Laviolette will be coaching the blue shirts as he has had a successful start to his Rangers career.
Igor Shesterkin has continued to be one of the best goaltenders in the league, posting a 2.56 GAA and .905 save-percentage.