Rangers vs. Canucks

                                                                                         

New York -145 vs. Vancouver

A battle of first place teams will take place in Madison Square Garden as the Eastern Conference points leader, Rangers welcome the Northwest leading Vancouver Canucks in a rematch of the 1994 Stanley Cup Final.

After a solid home stand, the Canucks hit the road and lost to the Islanders in overtime Monday night 2-1. Vancouver (10-6-2) has not lost in regulation since a 3-2 loss to Detroit on November 2, but the Canucks have lost their last two out of three games in overtime. Vancouver's MVP, and possibly the NHL, so far this season has been Roberto Luongo. The netminder set an NHL record with 242 minutes and 36 seconds of shutout hockey that spanned 18:52 remaining in the third period of the November 2 loss to the Red Wings until 88 seconds left in regulation in Colorado on November 12. During the streak, Luongo shutout Nashville, Phoenix and Minnesota between the Detroit and Colorado games. The goalie has a 2.16 goals against average and is 10-5-2 on the season.

The Rangers (14-5-2) have a pretty good goalie of their own who has been propelling them to victory all season long. Henrik Lundqvist is 12-4-2 with a miniscule 1.92 GAA on the season. New York has won three straight, the last two coming in a shootout over Boston and Ottawa.

The Rangers also have not lost in regulation in some time, since November 8 to Washington. With their three game winning streak, New York has now apparently put behind them their rough stretch of losing four out of five games from November 1 through November 10.

The Rangers have not beaten the Canucks since 2004. Vancouver is looking to win their third straight game over the Rangers and have beaten New York in eight of the last ten meetings.

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