New York is coming off a 5-2 win over the Winnipeg Jets Sunday evening. For the second time in two days, the Rangers received five goals from five different players, including Kevin Hayes -named the NHL's third star of the week on Monday - Pavel Buchnevich and Mats Zuccarello.
Despite the win, the Rangers feel there is another level to their game they have not reached yet, but that it's a sign of a good team that they're finding paths to victory despite not playing their best hockey.
"I would say tonight is a good night to use 'never critique a win.' Just take the win," Alain Vigneault joked after Sunday's game. "It was our fifth game in eight nights, fourth game in six nights ... tough physically, tough mentally."
With that said, the Rangers' offense is putting up historic numbers for the franchise. The team has scored five or more goals in each of its last five games, marking the first time since the 1978-79 campaign that the team accomplished that in at least five games. Its plus-26 goal differential leads the NHL and is the most in franchise history through the first 13 games of any season.
In goal, Henrik Lundqvist is looking better with each start. He's 3-0 in his last three starts with a 1.67GAA and a .941 SV% with one shutout, and is 6-1 in his last seven overall.
In addition to the five-game win streak, several Blueshirts are riding streaks of their own into Tuesday's matchup. Hayes has a five-game streak going that's seen him tally four goals and nine assists. He also has goals in four streak games. Defenseman Brady Skjei has assists in five straight, becoming the first Rangers rookie defenseman since Brian Leetch in 1988-89 to do so.
As good as things have been for the Rangers, it's been the opposite for the Vancouver Canucks, who enter tonight's contest losers of nine straight, including eight in regulation. The Canucks are hitting the home stretch of a long seven-game road trip through eastern Canada and the Metropolitan area before finishing up in Detroit Thursday night.
Vancouver is on the back end of a back-to-back set after losing to the Islanders in Brooklyn Monday night, a game it led early on.
Offense has come at a premium for the Canucks this season. Daniel Sedin, Jannik Hansen and Brandon Sutter are tied for the team lead in points with six in 13 games this season. Big ticket free agent signing Loui Eriksson has struggled early on with just four assists in 13 contests.
Jacob Markstrom is expected to get the start in goal after Ryan Miller started Monday in Brooklyn. He is 3-2-1 this season with a 2.11 GAA and a .920 SV%.
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