Carolina Hurricanes at New York Rangers: Preview, Lineups, How to Watch

Carolina Hurricanes at New York Rangers
Saturday, Dec. 3, 2016 - 1:00 pm
Madison Square Garden - New York, NY
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Vital Statistics

Game Notes

• The Canes and Rangers face off this afternoon for the third time this season and the second time this week. The Canes got the better of the Rangers in a 3-2 win in their home opener on Oct. 28, then opened their current three-game road trip with a 3-2 loss just four nights ago.
• Tuesday’s loss was unfortunately not an anomaly for the Canes, as they watched an early lead dissipate in an eventual loss. It was a pattern they repeated Thursday night in a 2-1 shootout loss to the Bruins. On the season they are 6-1-4 when holding a lead going into the second period, 6-5-2 in one-goal games, and 3-4-3 after scoring the first goal of the game.
• They’ve also now gone winless in 12 visits (0-9-3) to Madison Square Garden dating back to Oct. 29, 2010.
• In addition to losing Jordan Staal earlier this week to a concussion, the Canes may be without Elias Lindholm today. Lindholm left Thursday’s game with a lower body concern and did not practice with the team yesterday. His status for today is uncertain. In post-practice comments, head coach Bill Peters mentioned that Lindholm was optimistic about his return but had not met with trainers for a final evaluation. Andrej Nestrasil, a healthy scratch Thursday, will draw back into the lineup if Lindholm is not available.
• Peters also has not named a goaltender for today’s matchup. The Canes will return home to face the Lightning tomorrow in their third set (of 16) back-to-back games, so Cam Ward and Michael Leighton will most likely split weekend duties. Ward has a 12-16-4 record with a 2.57 GAA and two shutouts in 33 career games against New York, and Leighton is 1-1-1 with a 1.64 GAA and one shutout in three career games.
• Victor Rask is two points shy of 100 NHL career points.
• The Rangers started November on a five-game winning streak and won seven of eight games, but their record in the last six games has been: W-L-W-L-W (vs Carolina) - L. Despite that middle-of-the-road streak, they have outscored their opponents 53-37 in 15 games this month while leading the NHL in goals and goals per game (3.53). They have yet to play two consecutive games without winning at least a point.
• The Rangers fell victim to giving up a lead themselves Thursday night, taking a 3-2 lead into the third period against the Buffalo Sabres before being Eicheled with two unanswered goals in a 4-3 loss. They remain atop the Metro division over the Pittsburgh Penguins but their margin is down to two points.
• The Rangers 11.5% five-on-five shooting percentage leads the league by almost 2-1/2 percentage points. They led the league with an overall 9.0% last season. Michael Grabner leads the team with 12 goals, and J.T. Miller and Kevin Hayes are tied for the team lead with 19 points.
• Miller did not practice with the Rangers yesterday but is expected to be in today’s lineup, as is Kevin Klein, who was a healthy scratch in Thursday’s game. Henrik Lundqvist has been named as the starter in net. His record against the Canes is 24-11-1 with a 2.11 GAA and two shutouts in 36 appearances. Antti Raanta has not faced the Canes in his career.
• Neither team had finalized rosters as of yesterday’s practices, and neither will practice this morning before the matinee game, so lineups are projected based on a combination of practice notes and post-practice interviews (Bill Peters; Alain Vigneault).
• Be sure to tune in during intermission for a special feature with Mike Maniscalco and nearby Tarrytown, NY native Brett Pesce as they talk hockey from the top of the Empire State Building.

Projected Lineups

Hurricanes (from Thurs. 12/1 vs. Bruins)

Jeff Skinner - Victor Rask - Elias Lindholm*
Sebastian Aho - Teuvo Teravainen - Lee Stempniak
Brock McGinn - Derek Ryan - Phil Di Giuseppe
Joakim Nordstrom - Jay McClement - Viktor Stalberg

Ron Hainsey - Justin Faulk
Jaccob Slavin - Brett Pesce
Noah Hanifin - Matt Tennyson

Cam Ward
Michael Leighton

Injuries and Scratches: Bryan Bickell (multiple sclerosis), Jordan Staal (IR concussion), Andrej Nestrasil (healthy), Klas Dahlbeck (healthy)

Rangers (from Fri. 12/2 practice reports)

Chris Kreider - Derek Stepan - Mats Zuccarello
Jimmy Vesey - Kevin Hayes - Rick Nash
Brandon Pirri - J.T. Miller - Michael Grabner
Jesper Fast - Oscar Lindberg - Matt Puempel

Ryan McDonagh - Dan Girardi
Marc Staal - Nick Holden
Brady Skjei - Kevin Klein

Henrik Lundqvist
Antti Raanta

Injuries and Scratches: Mika Zibanejad (ankle), Pavel Buchnevich (back spasms), Josh Jooris (healthy), Adam Clendening (healthy)