Kreider may return when Rangers visit Hurricanes

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RALEIGH, N.C. -- The New York Rangers and Carolina Hurricanes will play as scheduled Friday night, despite a winter storm expected to dump freezing rain across the region. The Rangers arrived in Raleigh on Thursday, ahead of the storm.
Recently-signed forward Daniel Paille took part in the Rangers' optional morning skate on Friday, along with Chris Kreider, who missed the team's Thursday practice with neck spasms. The Rangers believe Kreider, who skated on his own on Thursday, injured his neck in a collision with Radim Vrbata in New York's 3-2 win against the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday at Madison Square Garden.

Paille, a veteran of 570 games with the Buffalo Sabres and Boston Bruins, had played 31 games this season with Rockford of the American Hockey League before signing with the Rangers on Thursday.
The Hurricanes returned to Raleigh after a 1-0 overtime win at the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday. Jordan Staal scored on a rebound at 2:54 of overtime. Eddie Lack made 32 saves for the Hurricanes.
The Hurricanes, who are 5-3-2 in their past 10, are without goaltender Cam Ward, diagnosed with a concussion on Tuesday. Daniel Altshuller was called up from Charlotte of the AHL, but he has yet to make his NHL debut.
Here are the projected lineups:
RANGERS
Rick Nash - Derick Brassard - Mats Zuccarello
Chris Kreider - Derek Stepan - J.T. Miller
Jesper Fast - Oscar Lindberg - Viktor Stalberg
Daniel Paille - Dominic Moore - Kevin Hayes
Ryan McDonagh- Dan Girardi
Marc Staal - Dan Boyle
Keith Yandle - Kevin Klein
Henrik Lundqvist
Antti Raanta
Injured: none
Scratched: Dylan McIlrath, Tanner Glass
HURRICANES
Kris Versteeg - Eric Staal - Elias Lindholm
Jeff Skinner - Victor Rask - Phillip Di Giuseppe
Joakim Nordstrom - Jordan Staal - Andrej Nestrasil
Nathan Gerbe - Jay McClement - Riley Nash
Ron Hainsey - Justin Faulk
John-Michael Liles - Brett Pesce
Noah Hanifin - Jaccob Slavin
Eddie Lack
Daniel Altshuller
Injured: James Wisniewski (knee)
Scratched: Michal Jordan, Brad Malone
Status report: Brassard is expected to return to the Rangers lineup after missing one game with an illness … Forward Jayson Megna was returned to Hartford of the AHL on Friday.
Who's hot: Rick Nash has four assists in three games … Kreider has three goals and two assists in four games … Jordan Staal has two overtime game-winning goals in January, including a 4-3 win at the Columbus Blue Jackets on Jan. 9.