The New York Rangers, coming off a brutal defeat in Buffalo, will once again welcome in the Carolina Hurricanes to Madison Square Garden.
- New York Rangers (16-8-1, 33 pts)
- Carolina Hurricanes (9-9-5, 23 pts)
- NHL, Saturday, Dec. 3, 1 p.m. ET, MSG Network
- Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
Home and home sequences only happen on rare occasions throughout the 82-game NHL season. What’s even more uncommon, however, is for two teams to faceoff at the same location twice in the same week (excluding playoffs, of course).
That will be the case Saturday afternoon when the New York Rangers battle the Carolina Hurricanes at Madison Square Garden for just the second time in five days. It will be the third matchup between these two divisional foes, with the home team taking the cake in each contest.
Tuesday’s battle saw the Blueshirts come out on top 3-2 despite a disappointing first 40 minutes. The Rangers, led by Rick Nash and Jimmy Vesey, deployed an aggressive forecheck in the third period to overcome a 2-1 deficit and hang on for their 16th victory of the year.
Not much is expected to change for the Rangers lineup wise from the last time they met. Kevin Klein, who was scratched in favor of Adam Clendening in Thursday’s bout with the Buffalo Sabers, is expected to make his return to the ice alongside Brady Skjei. Although the move should come as a surprise because of Clendening’s strong play, many were expecting of the move, as fans have come accustomed to Alain Vigneault‘s questionable decision-making regarding defensive personnel.
J.T. Miller is also expected to be in the Blueshirts’ top 12 after missing practice yesterday due to what Vigneault called a maintenance day for the 23-year old forward. Vigneault also announced that Henrik Lundqvist would start between the pipes for the Rangers. Henrik is coming off one of the worst performances of his career, so expect a sense of urgency from the veteran netminder.
The puck is scheduled to drop at 1 p.m ET.
AV gives a status update on Miller, his defense and who will be in net for #NYR Saturday against Carolina. pic.twitter.com/hjFHWFxzAL
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) December 2, 2016
.@ChrisKreider talks about @BCHockey playing @TheGarden Saturday night and #NYR facing Carolina. pic.twitter.com/Jr73AwRISg
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) December 2, 2016
Kevin Klein talks about possibly getting back into the #NYR lineup tomorrow against Carolina. pic.twitter.com/OwSW3gepvk
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) December 2, 2016
AV says Miller still dealing with "nagging" knee injury, but he "should be good to go" against Hurricanes. #NYR
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) December 2, 2016