Rangers aim to end 4-game skid vs. hot Coyotes
The New York Rangers have yet to pick up the pace following a lull in their early season schedule. The Rangers look to get it in gear and snap a four-game losing streak on Tuesday when they play the second contest of a season-long five-game homestand against the surging Arizona Coyotes. New York, which surrendered three first-period goals in Sunday's 3-2 setback against Vancouver, has been outscored 17-7 during its four-game losing streak. Three of those losses were recorded over a four-day stint after the team played just three times in nearly two weeks. Sunday's setback didn't sit well with Mika Zibanejad, who saw his team outshoot the Canucks 17-6 in the third period as they pressed for the equalizer. "It just means we dug ourselves a hole in the first," said the 26-year-old Swede, who boosted his team-leading totals in assists (seven) and points (11) after setting up Artemi Panarin's third-period goal. "It just shows that you can't just play for 25, 30 minutes. The whole game is not going to look perfect, it's not going to be all just good stuff, but we've got to learn to manage the game a little bit more when we don't feel like it's going our way. "Obviously the good thing about it is the pushback, and that's what we'll try to take with us." While New York limps into Tuesday, Arizona aims to extend its point streak to six games and winning streak to four in the opener of a four-game road trip. "I like the way our team's been playing all year," Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet said. "... We've got to be able to handle prosperity too. We can't get too high on ourselves. We're not that kind of team." Conor Garland has scored all four of his team-leading goals in a five-game stretch (4-0-1), including one in Saturday's 5-2 victory over Ottawa. "We've been playing the way we wanted to play really since the start of the season," said the 23-year-old Garland. Garland recorded the first multi-goal performance of his young career last season on Jan. 6, tallying twice as Arizona completed a two-game season sweep of the Rangers with a 5-0 rout. Darcy Kuemper was in net for that contest, but former Rangers goaltender Antti Raanta could be in line to get the start Tuesday after turning aside 34 shots against the Senators. Nick Schmaltz is riding a career high-tying five-game point streak (three goals, five assists) entering Tuesday's tilt versus New York. The 23-year-old also has good memories of playing against the Rangers, as he had a two-assist performance and set up forward Derek Stepan's overtime goal in a 4-3 victory at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 14. Henrik Lundqvist yielded all four goals in that contest, although the former Vezina Trophy recipient sports a sterling 8-2-1 record with a 2.48 goals-against average in 11 career encounters against the Coyotes. Panarin has tallied in back-to-back games to tie Zibanejad for the team lead in goals. The 27-year-old Russian has registered 15 points (10 goals, five assists) in nine career contests at Madison Square Garden. --Field Level Media |