Tonight at 10:00 p.m. ET, the New York Rangers (42-30-4, 88 points) and Vancouver Canucks (34-31-11, 79 points) take the ice at the Rogers Arena for the second and final meeting against each other this season. The game can be live streamed here. New York fans can hear all of the action on 98.7 ESPN Radio while Vancouver fans can do the same on TEAM 1040.
New York has won six of its last seven games while Vancouver is trying to snap a two-game skid. The first time these two teams met, the Rangers defeated the Canucks 5-2 on Nov. 30 at Madison Square Garden.
This marks Rangers coach Alain Vigneault's first time coaching against the Canucks in Vancouver in the regular-season since he was let go over the summer while John Tortorella coaches against the Rangers for just the second time this season.
Vigneault led the Rangers into Vancouver during the preseason, but he won't be nostalgic tonight as he just wants to escape with two points.
"This is night and day from when we came in during training camp," Vigneault said Monday via NHL.com. "It was a very emotional time for me, it was my first time back. Now it's all about winning games. We're in a real tough conference. We're in a tough fight to get into the playoffs, and we need every point we can get so my focus right now is to get our team ready to play against Vancouver [Tuesday]."
Tortorella was in no mood to compare his struggling Canucks to the Rangers thriving under Vigneault.
"We're losing games so I'm the idiot, and he's winning games, so he's the smart guy. And rightfully so," Tortorella told ESPN Monday. "When you lose games and you struggle, you're going to get scrutinized."
Martin St. Louis (29-35-64) is tops on the Rangers in points but still hasn't scored a goal since he was acquired from the Tampa Bay Lightning before the NHL trade deadline while Mats Zuccarello (17-36-53) and Derek Stepan (15-38-53) are tied for second on the team in scoring.
Henrik Sedin (10-36-46) paces the Canucks in scoring but remains sidelined with a back injury while Daniel Sedin (14-28-42) and Ryan Kesler (23-18-41) also lead the team in scoring.
Henrik Lundqvist will suit up for the Rangers and is 30-23-4 with a 2.44 GAA and a .918 save percentage. He'll likely be opposed by Eddie Lack, who is 15-15-5 with a 2.41 GAA and a .921 save percentage.
Familiar faces go head-to-head when the Rangers and Canucks clash as the lights come up at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver.
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