Sign in Subscribe
New York Rangers Pregame

Carolina Hurricanes at New York Rangers: Pregame News and Notes

NEW YORK RANGERS vs. CAROLINA HURRICANES
Wednesday, Jan. 27, 7:00 p.m.
Madison Square Garden • New York, NY
Rangers: 24-22-7 (55 pts.)
Hurricanes: 16-28-7 (39 pts.)
* All information through NHL games on Jan. 25

TOMORROW'S GAME:
The Rangers face-off against the Carolina Hurricanes tomorrow at Madison Square Garden (7:00 p.m.), in their fourth and final meeting of the season. The Blueshirts currently rank fourth in the Atlantic Division standings, and eighth in the Eastern Conference, with a record of 24-22-7 (55 pts.). The Rangers enter tomorrow's contest having been defeated by the Pittsburgh Penguins, 4-2, Monday at Madison Square Garden, and are now 10-6-4 in their last 20 games. The Hurricanes enter the contest with a 16-28-7 (39 pts.) record, and rank 15th in the Eastern Conference. Following tomorrow's game, the Rangers will open a three-game Western Conference road trip with a back-to-back set beginning on Saturday, Jan. 30, vs. the Phoenix Coyotes at Jobing.com Arena (8:00 p.m.), and continuing on Sunday, Jan. 31, vs. the Colorado Avalanche at the Pepsi Center (8:00 p.m.).

RANGERS PRACTICE SCHEDULE:
Please note there is no morning skate scheduled for tomorrow, Jan. 27.  Head Coach John Tortorella will be available to the media at 5:00 p.m. in the multi-purpose room, located on the fifth floor of Madison Square Garden.
* Schedule and availability subject to change

BROADCAST INFORMATION:

  • TV: MSG Network
    6:30 p.m. - Rangers Pre-Game Show with Al Trautwig
    7:00 p.m. - Rangers vs. Hurricanes
    Broadcasters: Sam Rosen (Play-By-Play), Joe Micheletti (Analyst), Al Trautwig and John Giannone (In-Game Reporters)
  • Radio: 1050 ESPN Radio
    6:30 p.m. - Rangers Pre-Game with Kenny Albert
    7:00 p.m. - Rangers vs. Hurricanes
    Broadcasters: Kenny Albert (Play-By-Play), Dave Maloney (Analyst)

RANGERS vs. HURRICANES:

  • All-Time: The Rangers are 53-45-7-2 all-time against the Hurricanes franchise: 33-15-4-2 at home and 20-30-3-0 on the road.
  • 2009-10: This is the fourth and final meeting between the Rangers and Hurricanes this season, and the second at Madison Square Garden. The Rangers own a 2-0-1 record overall thus far, including a 0-0-1 mark at home, following a 2-1 overtime loss on Jan. 2 at MSG.
  • Last Season: New York were 2-2-0 against Carolina in 2008-09, including a 2-0-0 mark at home. Each of their two meetings at MSG last season were decided by one goal.
  • The Rangers rank 22nd in the NHL at home with a record of 12-12-4 (28 pts.) in 28 games; the Hurricanes have posted a record of 5-16-4 (14 pts.) in 25 road games to rank 30th in the league
  • New York have posted a record of 6-4-3 vs. the Southeast Division; Carolina have registered a 2-7-4 mark vs. the Atlantic Division
  • The Rangers penalty kill has surrendered just one goal in 10 shorthanded situations for a success rate of 90.0% in three games vs. Carolina this season
  • Henrik Lundqvist has posted a record of 2-0-1 with a 1.30 goals against average and a .943 save percentage in three appearances vs. Carolina this season; Lundqvist is 8-5-1 with a 2.12 goals against average and one shutout in 14 career regular season appearances vs. the Hurricanes
  • Brandon Dubinsky, who has tallied two goals and two assists in three games vs. Carolina this season, has notched the game winning goal in each of the Blueshirts' last three wins vs. the Hurricanes dating back to a 3-2 win on Jan. 27, 2009 at MSG
  • Marian Gaborik leads all skaters in scoring with five points (two goals and three assists) in the season series
  • Vinny Prospal leads the team with 19 goals, 25 assists and 44 points in 52 career regular season contests vs. Carolina; Marian Gaborik has tallied 14 points (seven goals and seven assists) in 11 career regular season appearances vs. the Hurricanes
  • New York lists no former Hurricanes on their roster
  • Carolina lists two former Rangers on their roster: Matt Cullen (2006-07); Aaron Ward (2006-07)

SPECIAL TEAMS:

  • Power Play: New York are tied for 13th in the NHL with an 18.5% (36-195) success rate, including a 22.0% (24-109) success rate at home to rank sixth in the league. The Rangers have tallied four goals in nine five-on-three (6:32) chances, and are two of four (4:10) with a four-on-three advantage. Shorthanded goals allowed (5): 10/26 (V. Fiddler); 12/12 (P. Kaleta); 12/14 (C. Armstrong); 12/26 (B. Comeau); 1/4 (M. Hunwick).
  • Penalty Killing: New York rank sixth in the NHL with an 84.7% (177-209) success rate, and rank sixth with an 86.4% (89-103) success rate at MSG. The Rangers have surrendered four goals in 15 three-on-five (10:22) attempts, and are seven of eight (6:47) when three-on-four. The Rangers notched a three-on-four shorthanded goal on Jan. 17 vs. Montreal, the first for the team since Oct. 25, 1996 at Florida (Adam Graves). Shorthanded goals for (5): 10/3 (B. Dubinsky); 10/11 (D. Girardi); 11/14 (V. Prospal); 12/23 (M. Gaborik); 1/17 (B. Dubinsky).
  • Four-on-Four: New York have skated in 64 (96:10) four-on-four situations. Four-on-Four goals for (2): 10/8 (R. Callahan); 10/17 (B. Dubinsky). Four-on-Four goals allowed (6): 10/24 (M. Cammalleri); 12/9 (D. Byfuglien); 12/17 (A. MacDonald); 1/2 (R. Whitney); 1/23 (S. Gomez and M. Cammalleri).

RANGERS NOTES:

SIBLING RIVALRY - Rangers defenseman Marc Staal has faced off against his older brother, Carolina forward Eric Staal, 11 times in his career, amassing a 6-4-1 record with three points (one goal and two assists), 10 penalty minutes and a plus-three rating. Eric has registered a 5-5-1 mark behind two goals and four assists, along with six penalty minutes and an even plus/minus rating in those 11 games.

SCORING IN THE CLUTCH - Forward Brandon Dubinsky leads the Rangers in game winning goals since the start of the 2008-09 season, with 11 of his 24 goals counting as the game-winner over the last two years. This season, the Rangers have posted a record of 7-0-1 in games when he notches a goal.

A BROADWAY HIT - The Blueshirts currently lead the NHL with 1,496 hits, including 866 hits at home to rank second in the league. Ryan Callahan ranks second in the NHL with 188 hits, and Michael Del Zotto ranks third among all first-year players with 118 hits.

THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT - Rookie defenseman Michael Del Zotto currently leads all NHL rookies in power play assists (12), ranks second in power play points (15), is tied for second in assists (18), ranks fourth in power play goals (three) and sixth in points (24). Artem Anisimov is tied for second on the Rangers overall in even strength goals (eight), and sixth among NHL rookies in goals (nine) and 13th in points (17), following his two-goal performance on Monday vs. Pittsburgh. Matt Gilroy is currently tied for fourth among rookie defensemen with four goals.

WINS LEADERS SINCE 2006-07 - Since the start of 2006-07, Henrik Lundqvist ranks sixth in the NHL with 134 wins, trailing Miikka Kiprusoff (147) by 13, Martin Brodeur (143) and Roberto Luongo (143) by nine, Evgeni Nabokov (142) by eight, and Ryan Miller (137) by three.

BLUESHIRT OLYMPIANS - The Blueshirts will have five players representing their native country at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, Canada next month. Rangers Captain Chris Drury (3rd Olympic appearance - 2002, 2006) and Ryan Callahan (1st Olympic appearance) will represent the United States, 2006 Winter Olympic Gold Medalist Henrik Lundqvist (2nd Olympic appearance - 2006) will represent Sweden and Marian Gaborik (2nd Olympic appearance - 2006) will represent Slovakia. Hartford Wolf Pack forward Andres Ambuhl (2nd Olympic appearance - 2006), who signed with the Rangers on May 27, will represent Switzerland. In addition, Rangers Head Coach John Tortorella will serve as an assistant coach for Team USA, Head Athletic Trainer Jim Ramsay will serve as an athletic therapist for Team Canada, and Massage Therapist/Assistant Trainer Bruce Lifrieri will serve as the massage therapist for Team USA.

RANGERS STREAKS:

  • No active streaks

MILESTONES IN SIGHT:

  • Chris Drury: 3 points from 600 NHL career
  • Marian Gaborik: 2 points from 500 NHL career

RECENT MILESTONES ACHIEVED:

  • Brandon Dubinsky: 100th career NHL point, Jan. 4 vs. BOS
  • Brandon Dubinsky: 200th career NHL game, Jan. 6 vs. DAL
  • Chad Johnson: 1st career NHL assist/point, Jan. 7 at ATL
  • Michal Rozsival: 600th career NHL game, Jan. 9 at BOS
  • Matt Zaba: 1st career NHL game, Jan. 23 at MTL
  • Ryan Callahan: 200th career NHL game, Jan. 25 vs. PIT

INJURIES:
None
Total Man-Games Lost: 51

RECENT TRANSACTIONS:

  • Jan. 20: Recalled goaltender Matt Zaba from Hartford (AHL), and assigned goaltender Chad Johnson to Hartford
  • Jan. 26: Recalled goaltender Chad Johnson from Hartford (AHL), and assigned goaltender Matt Zaba to Hartford

Read next