New York @ Anaheim preview

Last Meeting ( Dec 18, 2018 ) Anaheim 1, NY Rangers 3

The New York Rangers have alternated wins and losses over their last eight games, a pattern they hope to end when they wrap up a four-game road trip with the visit to the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday afternoon. New York is looking to post back-to-back victories for the first time since winning three games in a row from Nov. 23-27.

“We did it at some point in time. Seems like eons ago," Rangers coach David Quinn said of winning back-to-back games. “The lesson to learn is after you win one, you follow it up with a better performance. That’s what good teams do, and that’s what we’re going to focus on doing.” Anaheim's bid to win consecutive games for the first time in nearly six weeks came up short in a 2-1 setback to visiting Los Angeles on Thursday night -- its 13th loss in 17 games (4-9-4). "We're in these games. We need to find a way to tip the scales and get on the right side of them," defenseman Cam Fowler said. "You can talk so much about being so close and being right there, but eventually you need to get results."

TV: 4 p.m. ET, MSG (New York), Prime Ticket (Anaheim)

ABOUT THE RANGERS (16-12-3): New York scored five times in the opener of the road trip and erupted for six more in San Jose as Artemi Panarin recorded a hat trick and Mika Zibanejad scored twice in the third period. “They all want to score, and nobody wants them to score more than we do,” Quinn said. “Your best players have to be your best players, and those guys certainly were.” Panarin also collected an assist to give him seven points during a three-game streak, but he has only four in 10 games against Anaheim.

ABOUT THE DUCKS (13-15-4): Anaheim's power play ranks 30th in the league with a success rate of 12.2 percent, but has converted in back-to-back games as Derek Grant scored his ninth goal -- three shy of his career high set in 2017-18. "It's something I've done in other times in my career in different leagues. It's a job I enjoy," said Grant, who has scored seven times in 12 games. "Just trying to get in the goalie's eyes and make the skilled guys make the plays." Captain Ryan Getzlaf has points in 10 of his last 12 games.

OVERTIME

1. Panarin has scored 11 of his 18 goals in 15 road games.

2. Ducks G John Gibson is 1-3-2 with 21 goals allowed in seven appearances (six starts) versus New York.

3. Rangers G Henrik Lundqvist is 7-5-1 with a 2.61 goals-against average versus Anaheim.

PREDICTION: Rangers 3, Ducks 1