Lundqvist is 449-292-93 since joining the Rangers for the 2005-06 season. He is five victories away from tying Curtis Joseph (454) for fifth place on the all-time wins list. The Rangers are 1-2-5 in their past eight games and 12 points behind the Columbus Blue Jackets for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. Vancouver is 2-6-2 in its past 10 games and 10 points behind the Arizona Coyotes for the second wild card from the Western Conference.
Players to watch
Rangers forward Mika Zibanejad has no goals and two assists in his past six games after getting 19 points (10 goals, nine assists) in his previous 14. Canucks forward Brock Boeser has one goal and three assists during a three-game point streak.
They said it
"You have to find different ways to motivate yourself and we can use little moments like this for a teammate to spark us." -- Rangers defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk on Henrik Lundqvist going for his 450th NHL victory "When you don't play for a month it's tough, so I will be excited to get back out there. I was hoping we'd still be in the thick of it, but you have to compete and still try to win games." -- Canucks defenseman Chris Tanev on returning after missing 11 games with an ankle sprain
Hajek, who separated his left shoulder Saturday, is not with the Rangers on their four-game road trip. … Hughes, who signed Sunday, had an MRI on Wednesday morning but pending the results there is no timeline for his debut. Hutton was still wearing a walking boot Tuesday.
Stat pack
Strome (two goals, one assists) and Namestnikov (one goal, two assists) each has three points in New York's past two games. Lemieux has four points (one goal, three assists) in his past three games. … Pettersson has no goals and four assists in his past nine games. Horvat has one goal in his past six games. Virtanen will play his 200th NHL game.
