(Sportsbooks) - The Eastern Conference-leading
New York Rangers will shoot for a fourth consecutive victory tonight, when they welcome the
Vancouver Canucks for a matchup at Madison Square Garden.
The Rangers are leading the East with 30 points and have righted themselves after going 1-4-0 to start the month of November. New York began its three- game winning streak with last Wednesday's 5-2 triumph at New Jersey and followed with back-to-back shootout victories.
After edging visiting Boston, 3-2, on Saturday, the Blueshirts picked up another home win on Monday, downing Ottawa by a 2-1 score. Nikolai Zherdev scored the lone shootout goal to help the Rangers edge the Sens at MSG.
Zherdev was the first participant, and he snapped a wrister between the pads of Alex Auld. Jason Spezza tried the same move, but was denied by Henrik Lundqvist. After Auld made a glove save on Fredrik Sjostrom, who scored in regulation for New York, Jarkko Ruutu fanned on his attempt, but the agitator decided to fire the puck at Lundqvist any way, upsetting the Rangers bench.
Auld then stopped Chris Drury, leaving Ottawa's hopes in the hands of Antoine Vermette, but his backhander was turned aside by Lundqvist, and the Rangers came away with the extra point.
Lundqvist made 27 saves for New York and has allowed two goals or fewer in his last 12 appearances.
Tonight marks the end of a three-game homestand for the Rangers, who are 9-3-1 as the host this season. New York's next test will take place Saturday in Ottawa.
Rangers forward Markus Naslund will face his former team for the first time since signing with New York in the offseason. Naslund, who has six goals and eight assists this year, spent 12 years in Vancouver and was the team's captain from the start of the 2000-01 campaign until his departure over the summer.
The Canucks, meanwhile, are making the second stop on a four-game road trip tonight. Vancouver began the swing on a down note as it dropped a shootout decision Monday against the New York Islanders. Frans Nielsen scored the lone goal of the deciding segment to lift the Isles to the 2-1 win at Nassau Coliseum.
Roberto Luongo, just recently removed from his amazing team-record shutout streak that topped 240 minutes, had 34 saves for the Canucks but let in Nielsen's score in the shootout.
Pavol Demitra scored the only goal for Vancouver, which had won four of five entering play.
The Canucks, who are just 4-4-1 as the visiting team this year, will continue their trek Thursday in Minnesota.
Vancouver has won two straight, seven of eight and eight of the last 10 matchups with the Rangers. The Canucks have also posted victories in three of four and five of their previous seven stops in the Big Apple.
