On the Road Again
Friday's game marks the last in a road-heavy December stretch that included eight of 11 games on the road for the Hurricanes, who then begin a season-long, seven-game homestand on Saturday.
Bolstered by a 4-0-1 five-game road trip, the Canes are 12-7-2 on the road this season, but the team is looking to put the most recent road game, an 8-6 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs, in the rearview mirror.
"I don't really know how to exactly describe that," said Erik Haula, who recorded two goals and an assist. "It was probably really entertaining for people watching, but that was brutal."
The game was one of the wilder ones in recent memory, having seen goals for either team come in bunches. The Leafs scored three goals. The Canes scored five goals. The Leafs scored one goal. The Canes scored one goal. The Leafs scored four goals.
"That's probably the craziest game I've ever played professionally. It was up-and-down. We started really bad," said Martin Necas, who finished with a career high four points (2g, 2a). "Then, in the second period, we dominated. The third period, I don't really know what happened."
Streaking
Teuvo Teravainen and Lucas Wallmark are each riding point streaks. Teravainen has recorded at least one assist in each of his last five games (6a), while Wallmark has posted points in four straight (2g, 3a).
PROJECTED LINEUP
Teravainen is tied for the team lead in scoring with 37 points in 30 games. He also is the team leader in assists with 30.
The Last Meeting
The Rangers twice defeated the Hurricanes in November, which included a 3-2 final in Manhattan on Nov. 27. New York hung a three-spot of goals on the Canes in the first period, and though Ryan Dzingel and Warren Foegele scored 89 seconds apart in the second, the Canes couldn't break through Henrik Lundqvist for a third, tying goal. In total, Lundqvist made 41 saves on 43 shots, nearly three weeks after he stopped 45 of 47 in another victorious effort in Raleigh.
The Opposition
The Rangers were winners of just one of their last five games (1-4-1) prior to the three-day holiday break. In fact, their win at home on Dec. 22 was their first at Madison Square Garden since that Nov. 27 game against Carolina. Artemi Panarin leads the team in goals (20), assists (25) and points (45) and had a seven-game point streak (7g, 4a) snapped in Philadelphia on Dec. 23.
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