Carolina @ New York preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 7, 2018 ) NY Rangers 5, Carolina 8

The Carolina Hurricanes are in the midst of their hottest stretch of the season while the New York Rangers are careening in the other direction and tumbling down the Metropolitan Division standings. Yet when the Hurricanes visit Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night, they will be looking to end a slide of 15 consecutive road losses to the Rangers.

Carolina, which hasn't prevailed at the Garden since Oct. 29, 2010, has won seven of its last eight overall after knocking off visiting Nashville 6-3 on Sunday. "We're finally getting bounces," said Hurricanes forward Micheal Ferland, who collected two assists in the latest victory. "We haven't changed the way we play." New York finally ended a five-game skid with a 2-1 win at the New York Islanders on Saturday before dropping a 7-5 decision at Columbus the following day that left coach David Quinn furious with his team's effort. “We have zero chance if we’ve got 20 guys in uniform not wanting to compete for pucks and get into people and have a little bit of snarl to your game,” Quinn groused to reporters.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, FS Carolina, MSG (New York)

ABOUT THE HURRICANES (22-18-5): Sebastian Aho has scored five goals in the past two games after collecting his second career hat trick and adding an assist in Sunday's win over Nashville. Aho boosted his season goal total to 21 and became the fourth player in franchise history to reach at least 20 in each of his first three seasons and the sixth Finnish-born player to accomplish the feat. Also on a torrid stretch is captain Justin Williams, who matched his career high by scoring a goal in his fifth consecutive game while becoming the sixth player in league history with a streak that long at age 37 or older.

ABOUT THE RANGERS (18-20-7): New York has surrendered at least four goals in each loss during its 1-6-0 tailspin and Quinn went with rookie netminder Alex Georgiev in both ends of the weekend back-to-back to give Henrik Lundqvist a "mental breather." Georgiev gave up seven goals in his season debut against Carolina, so it's likely Quinn will turn back to Lundqvist, who allowed 15 goals in losing his last three starts but permitted only three tallies in winning all three starts against the Hurricanes last season. Forward Kevin Hayes has been sidelined for the past six games with an upper-body injury.

OVERTIME

1. Hurricanes G Petr Mrazek is 2-1-0 against the Rangers despite allowing 11 goals in the three starts.

2. The Rangers acquired F Connor Brickley from Nashville in exchange for F Cole Schneider on Monday.

3. Aho had three goals and six points in nine matchups against New York.

PREDICTION: Hurricanes 4, Rangers 3