Vancouver vs NY RangersThe Vancouver Canucks begin a four-game home stand tonight looking to snap a three-game winless streak when they host their former coach, Alain Vigneault, and the New York Rangers at Rogers Arena.
It's safe to say the Canucks are glad to be home. Since their last game at Rogers Arena 18 days ago, the Canucks have played seven straight games away from home posting a record of 3-3-1. It's a respectable run but, in many ways, a disappointing one considering they began the trip 3-1-0 before following up with three consecutive defeats, including falling 3-1 to the Canadiens on Tuesday night in a very emotional game at the Bell Centre. There will be plenty of emotion in tonight's game as well but certainly not to the scale of Tuesday night and likely not even as much as when the Rangers last visited Rogers Arena back on April 1. On that night, former Canucks head coach made his triumphant return to the place he once called home and the New Yorkers earned a 3-1 win to sweep the season series over the John Tortorella-led Canucks. Tortorella, the former Rangers head coach who was replaced by Vigneault in the Big Apple, was fired by Vancouver exactly one month after that loss to New York.
These days the Rangers don't quite resemble the team that surged all the way to the Stanley Cup Final last season but they are starting to turn the corner. They've won three of their last five games including knocking off the Penguins 4-3 in overtime on Monday. If the Rangers want to get back to being the team that can contend for a Cup, they'll need to figure out how to win on the road. New York is just 3-5-1 away from MSG this season and has only one win in their last six road outings (1-4-1). This game is the start of a four-game road trip for the Rangers that will also see them visit Edmonton, Calgary and Carolina. Look for the goaltending match-up to be between former Vezina Trophy winners Ryan Miller and Henrik Lundqvist. Shawn Matthias, barring a setback, appears likely to return to the lineup tonight. Derek Dorsett is set to play his first game against the Rangers since being traded to the Canucks. He was part of their run to the Stanley Cup Final last season. The Rangers expect to have Chris Kreider back in their lineup after he sat out Monday's win over Pittsburgh with a neck injury.
Puck drop at 7 pm PT – Live on CBC