Though the New York Rangers showed some fight last time
out, it wasn't enough to snap their road losing streak. The team continues its
western Canada swing tonight in Edmonton with a test against the Oilers at
Rexall Place.
The Rangers have dropped four straight on the road (0-3-1), a skid that was
extended with Tuesday's 4-1 loss in Vancouver. Chris Higgins followed a
penalty-filled scrum in the third period with his first goal as a Ranger, but
the Canucks scored the next three in the game.
Higgins, acquired in the offseason from Montreal in the Scott Gomez deal,
converted a Brandon Dubinsky feed for his first goal in 15 games this year.
The tally came not too long after a third-period delay sparked by a skirmish
that involved as many as 17 players.
The melee began with Marian Gaborik getting into it with Vancouver's Ryan
Kesler, while Sean Avery took a stick to the chest from the Canucks' Shane
O'Brien. Both players were seated on their respective benches at the time.
"We knew they were going to come out and play hard, but we needed to play
harder," said Dubinsky. "We had a chance to win this game. It was a pretty
tight game and then a couple of turnovers, a couple of penalties hurt us."
Henrik Lundqvist made 26 saves for the Rangers, who have dropped six of their
last eight contests (2-5-1). New York is 3-4-1 on the road and wraps its tour
of western Canada on Saturday in Calgary.
But first, New York aims for its first win in Edmonton since February 21,
1999. The club has gone 0-2 with a tie in three trips there since and has lost
three of its last four overall to the Oilers after last season's 3-2 home
shootout setback.
The Oilers return home, where they are 6-2-1 this year, after losing both
tests of a quick road trip. Edmonton was in New York on Monday to battle the
Islanders, dropping a 3-1 decision.
Ethan Moreau had the lone goal for Edmonton, which has lost five of six after
starting the season 6-2-1. Nikolai Khabibulin allowed all three goals on 37
shots in the setback.
"How many times did you see two or three of our defense right dead in the
slot? We don't even hit the bloody net," Oilers head coach Pat Quinn said.
"They want to wind it up and crank it through."
Edmonton hits the road for five straight following this home test.
Oilers forward Mike Comrie is questionable tonight due to flu-like symptoms
that have sidelined him for the last three games. Meanwhile, fellow forward
Shawn Horcoff will miss the next 7-to-10 days with a shoulder injury suffered
in Monday's game.
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