The Rangers last lost to the Hurricanes 4-3 on Oct. 29, 2010; the 16-game streak is New York's longest at home against one opponent in its history. Goalie Henrik Lundqvist will start for the Rangers, 5-2-1 in their past eight games after going 1-6-0 in their previous seven games. Goalie Petr Mrazek likely will start for the Hurricanes after Curtis McElhinney made 34 saves in a 6-5 overtime win against the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday. Carolina is 12-4-1 in its past 17 games.
Players to watch
Rangers center Mika Zibanejad has nine points (five goals, four assists) in a four-game point streak and 18 points (10 goals, eight assists) in his past 10 games. Hurricanes center Sebastian Aho has 17 points (eight goals, nine assists) in his past 12 games and is one assist shy of 100 in the NHL.
They said it
"Yeah, again, it's the biggest game of the year. We're in a position where we have to win every game. We can't lose any night. We have to be ready, especially on the road. We have to fight for any points." -- Hurricanes forward Teuvo Teravainen "We have a much better chance to win hockey games and continue to move forward and grow if we don't dig ourselves those holes during the times where maybe things aren't going great." -- Rangers coach David Quinn on his team rallying for a 4-3 shootout win against the Boston Bruins on Wednesday after trailing 3-1 in the third period
Neither team held a morning skate. ... Zuccarello and Fast each had a maintenance day on Thursday and each is expected to play. ... Quinn said Pionk, who was scratched Wednesday, could return to the lineup.
Stat pack
Teravainen has 10 points (four goals, six assists) in his past seven games. … Niederreiter has seven points (six goals, one assist) in his past seven games. ... Carolina is 4-0-1 in its past five road games. … Kreider, Zibanejad and Zuccarello have 41 points (19 goals, 22 assists) in the past nine games with all three of them in the lineup. ... Vesey has nine points (six goals, three assists) in 10 games against the Hurricanes; the goals and points are his most against any opponent.
