Rangers at Hurricanes preview

RANGERS (33-36-9) at HURRICANES (35-32-11)
7 p.m. ET; MSG 2, FS-CR, NHL.TV

Carolina is eight points behind the New Jersey Devils for the second wild card into the playoffs in the Eastern Conference. The Hurricanes will be eliminated with a loss of any kind, a shootout win or a point gained by the Devils, who host the New York Islanders.
Goaltender Cam Ward is expected to start for the Hurricanes, who have won four of their past five and defeated the Washington Capitals 4-1 on Friday.
The Rangers, who lost 7-3 at home to the Tampa Bay Lightning 7-3 on Friday, are 1-4-2 in their past seven.

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Players to watch

Rangers center Mika Zibanejad has 13 points (eight goals, five assists) in his past 10 games.
Hurricanes forward Sebastian Aho has 13 points (five goals, eight assists) in his past 11 games.

They said it

"The season has been tough. It hasn't been as we wanted. To not be able to finish it off [at home] with a win in front of our fans, it's disappointing." --Rangers forward Mika Zibanejad
"Valentin Zykov is trying to prove if he's a legitimate NHL player. [Scott] Darling wants to end on a better taste than what's in his mouth right now. [Sebastian] Aho is at 28 goals; it would be nice to get him to 30. There's lots to play for." -- Hurricanes coach Bill Peters

Rangers projected lineup

Chris Kreider -- Mika Zibanejad -- Jesper Fast
Kevin Hayes --
Filip Chytil
-- Mats Zuccarello
Jimmy Vesey --
Lias Andersson
-- Ryan Spooner
Cody McLeod -- Vladislav Namestnikov -- Pavel Buchnevich
Marc Staal -- Neal Pionk
Brady Skjei -- Ryan Sproul
John Gilmour -- Rob O'Gara
Henrik Lundqvist
Ondrej Pavelec
Scratched:David Desharnais, Paul Carey, Peter Holland
Injured:Tony DeAngelo (ankle), Kevin Shattenkirk (knee surgery), Steven Kampfer (fractured hand)

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Hurricanes projected lineup

Valentin Zykov -- Sebastian Aho -- Teuvo Teravainen
Brock McGinn -- Jordan Staal -- Justin Williams
Jeff Skinner -- Elias Lindholm -- Phillip Di Giuseppe
Joakim Nordstrom -- Derek Ryan -- Lee Stempniak
Jaccob Slavin -- Justin Faulk
Noah Hanifin -- Trevor van Riemsdyk
Haydn Fleury -- Klas Dahlbeck
Cam Ward
Scott Darling
Scratched:None
Injured:Victor Rask (shoulder), Brett Pesce (shoulder)

Status report

Neither team held a morning skate. … Lundqvist is expected to start after Pavelec played against the Lightning.

Stat pack

Chytil, selected in the first round (No. 21) in the 2017 NHL Draft, scored his first NHL goal Friday. He has one goal and one assist in five games. … The Hurricanes are 28-11-5 when scoring first. Carolina is the least-penalized team in the NHL (6.2 minutes per game).