Canucks put 6-game win streak on line to host Rangers

Moral victories are meaningless for the New York Rangers these days.

Heading into Saturday's clash with the Vancouver Canucks to finish a four-game road trip, the Rangers are reeling after a pair of disappointing performances.

"This is about winning and losing, and we're not doing enough good things to win hockey games," coach David Quinn told the New York Post.

New York lost 7-5 in Edmonton on New Year's Eve and 4-3 in Calgary on Thursday, a game in which the Rangers surrendered a pair of breakaway goals in the first period, one while they were on a five-on-three power play. They have allowed 23 goals in their last five games.

"We're giving up too many goals. You can't score five goals every game, expect to win like that," defenseman Marc Staal said. "Start or not, I thought we battled. I thought our power play was good. We've just got to be more conscious in our own zone, off the rush. All those things. You limit a team's opportunities and Grade A chances. We've got to be better."

The Vancouver game is the midway point of their season, and the Rangers sit seven points back of a playoff spot. More sluggish starts will increase that separation.

"When you play in Canada, the crowd is into it, there's an energy in the building. You've got to stem the tide," winger Chris Kreider said. "You have to play simple, you have to support each other, and you have to do the right things defensively. If you don't do that consistently enough, especially on the road, it's going to bite you."

The Canucks are on the other side of the spectrum, riding a season-best six-game winning streak and coming off a 7-5 decision over the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday.

"It's always fun to play in those games, especially when you're on the winning side of it," center Bo Horvat said. "It felt like a playoff game out there."

He was referring to the intensity. Not the defensive play. But it was an example of how explosive of an offense the Canucks boast, with J.T. Miller collecting four points, while Elias Pettersson and Horvat pocketed three points for a team that has scored 28 goals in its winning streak.

As a result, several players hold hot hands. Both Miller and Pettersson have collected nine points in their last six games, Tanner Pearson has eight points in his past four games, and Brock Boeser is riding a six-game point streak in which he's collected one goal and six assists.

That said, the five goals allowed wasn't something anybody was thrilled about, especially since the Canucks saw their 2-1 lead early in the second period become a 4-2 deficit within six minutes.

"We stuck with it, that's what good teams do," said Adam Gaudette, who scored the game winner in a see-saw affair. "They don't get down. They don't fold. They stick with it and see it out to the end."

"How do you sum it up? A famous coach once told me that you don't always paint a portrait; sometimes you paint a barn," coach Travis Green added.

--Field Level Media