Rangers at Canucks preview

RANGERS (27-30-6) at CANUCKS (24-32-7)
10 p.m. ET; SNP, MSG, NHL.TV

Namestnikov was acquired by New York in a trade with the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday and joined the Rangers in Vancouver late Tuesday, but the Rangers did not skate Wednesday morning.
New York traded defenseman Ryan McDonagh and forward J.T. Miller to Tampa Bay for Namestnikov and forward Brett Howden, defenserman Libor Hajek, a first-round pick in the 2018 NHL Draft and a conditional first-round pick in the 2019 draft.
The Rangers, 0-6-1 in their past seven games, are trying to avoid their longest skid since an eight-game losing streak (0-5-3) from March 12-25, 2004. New York is nine points behind the Columbus Blue Jackets for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
Forwards Brendan Leipsic and Tyler Motte each will make his Canucks debut after being acquired in separate trades Monday. Vancouver acquired Leipsic from the Vegas Golden Knights in for defenseman Philip Holm. Motte and forward Jussi Jokinen were acquired from the Columbus Blue Jackets for forward Thomas Vanek.
Vancouver is 3-8-1 in its past 12 games and 19 points behind the Anaheim Ducks for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.

Players to watch

Namestnikov, 25, already has established NHL highs with 20 goals, 24 assists and 44 points with Tampa Bay in 62 games this season.
Canucks forward Daniel Sedin has 10 points (six goals, four assists) in his past eight games.

They said it

"Very skilled. I think a guy like that can open up the game with the way he sees the game." -- Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist on forward Vladislav Namestnikov
"It's going to be a great chance with two really good players having good years." -- Canucks forward Brendan Leipsic on debuting with Bo Horvat and Brock Boeser on Vancouver's top line

Rangers projected lineup

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

Canucks projected lineup

Brendan Leipsic -- Bo Horvat -- Brock Boeser
Daniel Sedin -- Henrik Sedin -- Nikolay Goldobin
Sven Baertschi -- Sam Gagner -- Jake Virtanen
Darren Archibald -- Brandon Sutter -- Tyler Motte
Alexander Edler -- Erik Gudbranson
Michael Del Zotto -- Troy Stecher
Ben Hutton -- Derrick Pouliot
Jacob Markstrom
Anders Nilsson
Scratched:Reid Boucher, Alex Biega, Jussi Jokinen
Injured: Loui Eriksson (upper body), Brendan Gaunce (foot), Markus Granlund (ankle), Chris Tanev (lower body), Sam Gagner (upper body)

Status report

Eriksson will be out 7-10 days after a hit against the Arizona Coyotes on Sunday. … Jokinen, 34, practiced but won't play Wednesday.

Stat pack

Hayes has nine points (four goals, five assists) in his past nine games. … The Canucks have allowed four goals or more in four of their past seven games.