|
|
|
GAME DAY PREVIEW Game time: 7:30pm ET Toronto at NY Rangers | ||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||
NEW YORK -- The surging New York Rangers look to match the third-longest winning streak in franchise history Thursday night when they return home to host the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Rangers stretched their streak to seven games and completed a sweep of a four-game road trip Tuesday with a 4-3 come-from-behind victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins. Mike Knuble scored twice in the third period as New York erased a 3-1 deficit. The Rangers had a pair of eight-game winning streaks in the 1970s -- February 16-March 6, 1974 and December 27, 1974-January 11, 1975. The franchise record is 10, set from December 19, 1939-January 13, 1940 and matched from January 19-February 10, 1973. With the Rangers back home, they will have left winger Adam Graves in the lineup. Graves missed the last three games of the road trip to be with his wife and twin infant sons, who were born two months premature. Tuesday's win enabled the Rangers to move above .500 for the first time since they were 4-3-1 on October 17. New York, which has won nine of its last 10, also improved to just 2-17-3 this season when trailing after two periods. The Rangers are 2-1 against the Leafs this season, sweeping a home-and-home series earlier this month. Graves scored with 34 seconds left in overtime to give New York a 3-2 win at Madison Square Garden on January 5. Three days later, Petr Nedved recorded his third career hat trick in the Rangers' 5-3 win in Toronto. New York is 8-0-1 at home against the Leafs since December 19, 1990. Toronto's three-game unbeaten streak ended Wednesday with a 4-2 loss at Detroit. Steve Thomas and Mats Sundin each had a goal and an assist for the Leafs, who have only one win in their last five contests (1-2-2). Sundin has three goals and five assists in the last four games
and tops the club with 23 goals and 44 points.
| ALSO SEE NHL Scoreboard Toronto Clubhouse NY Rangers Clubhouse PREVIEWS Phoenix @ Carolina
Toronto @
|