The New York Rangers look like one of the hottest teams in the NHL. So, this could be a good chance for the Carolina Hurricanes to measure how they’re playing.

The Hurricanes are still trying to adjust to new lineup combinations after the loss of All-Star forward Andrei Svechnikov to a season-ending knee injury.

Carolina visits the Rangers for Tuesday night’s game in a clash between two of the top teams in the Eastern Conference.

The Rangers (41-19-10, 92 points) have won four in a row by a combined score of 22-5, including the weekend domination of Pittsburgh by 6-0 and Nashville by 7-0.

“You just want to make sure the guys keep playing well,” Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said. “It’s really coming together the last couple of games.”

The Rangers and Hurricanes will meet in a rematch Thursday night in Raleigh, N.C.

The Hurricanes (45-15-8, 98 points) might want to get something going against the Rangers, who eliminated them last spring in seven games in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Further, New York won 5-3 on Jan. 3 at home and then 6-2 on Feb. 11 on the road in the first matchups of this season.

The Hurricanes have been shaky the past couple of outings, falling at Toronto on Friday before pulling out a stunning comeback to secure a 5-4 overtime victory Saturday at Philadelphia.

“It was a good lesson,” coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “We’ll take the points this time of the year.”

The Hurricanes took a break from the three-game stretch of road contests. With two days between games, they returned home prior to heading back on the road for the New York assignment.

Carolina players have acknowledged that the manner in which they won their latest game can’t become a staple. The Hurricanes needed a goal in the final second of regulation to extend the game.

“We can’t play like this every night,” forward Sebastian Aho said. “We don’t give ourselves the best chance to win these games. But obviously it’s a little bit of a confidence builder to get the late goal there and be able to come out as the winner.”

Aho’s overtime goal gave him his third hat trick of the season. Teammate Martin Necas has three game-tying goals in the last minute of regulation this season.

The Hurricanes need boosts from players who can score with Svechnikov out of the lineup.

“It’s the nature of the game, they know they need to score for us to win,” Brind’Amour said. “With the guys we have out now, you count more and more on your top guys. (Aho) is one we have left as far as a game changer.”

Both teams have had notable numbers for defensemen.

K’Andre Miller of the Rangers became the first blueliner in franchise history with four points in a period in Sunday’s game.

“He’s coming every game,” Gallant said. “He wasn’t cheating the defensive side of the game. He made his rushes and made his plays.”

First-year Carolina defenseman Brent Burns has 52 points for the single-season franchise record for a defenseman.

–Field Level Media

The New York Rangers remained red-hot Sunday night when they rode a six-goal first period to a 7-0 rout of the visiting Nashville Predators.

The Rangers, who blanked the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-0 on Saturday night, have won four straight by a combined score of 22-5. They have scored 15 unanswered goals in their last three games, the longest streak in the NHL this season.

K’Andre Miller scored twice in the first, and Filip Chytil, Mika Zibanejad, Tyler Motte and Artemi Panarin also collected goals as the Rangers tied the franchise record for most goals in a first period, set most recently against the Los Angeles Kings in an 8-3 win on Dec. 15, 1999. Goalie Jaroslav Halak stopped all 22 shots he faced one night after Igor Shesterkin recorded the shutout with 33 saves.

The Predators have lost three straight (0-2-1). They entered Sunday five points behind the Winnipeg Jets in the race for the second wild card in the Western Conference. Goalie Kevin Lankinen was pulled after allowing four goals on just five shots in the first 9:09. Juuse Saros went the rest of the way and made 26 saves.

Bruins 7, Sabres 0

Boston received another strong performance from goaltender Jeremy Swayman and extended its winning streak to three games by blasting host Buffalo.

Swayman, who recorded 36 saves in a 3-0 victory over Winnipeg on Thursday night, stopped 27 Buffalo shots to collect his fourth shutout of the season and the ninth of his career. Patrice Bergeron, Garnet Hathaway, Jake DeBrusk, Hampus Lindholm, David Pastrnak, Charlie Coyle and Charlie McAvoy scored for Boston, which completed a five-game road trip with a 3-2-0 record.

The loss was the beginning of a three-game homestand for the Sabres, who received 19 saves from Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.

Wild 5, Capitals 3

Matt Boldy had a hat trick, and Minnesota defeated Washington in Saint Paul, Minn.

Ryan Reaves and Brandon Duhaime also scored for the Wild, who were playing the second half of a back-to-back after a 5-2 loss to the Boston Bruins on Saturday. Marc-Andre Fleury made 33 saves. Minnesota moved ahead of the Colorado Avalanche for sole possession of second place in the Central Division, but the Wild have played two more games.

Alex Ovechkin scored twice for the Capitals, who have lost three of four. Charlie Lindgren made 35 saves. Washington trails the Pittsburgh Penguins by five points for the second wild-card entry into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.

Golden Knights 7, Blue Jackets 2

Jack Eichel had a hat trick and Vegas scored four times in the span of 6:22 in the second period to pull away for a five-goal victory over Columbus in Las Vegas.

It was the fourth hat trick of Eichel’s career. Phil Kessel and Pavel Dorofeyev each had a goal and an assist, Alex Pietrangelo tied a team record for defensemen with four assists and Zach Whitecloud and Paul Cotter also scored goals for Vegas, which broke a tie for first place in the Pacific Division with the idle Los Angeles Kings with its fifth win in its last six games.

Kirill Marchenko and Liam Foudy scored goals and Patrik Laine had two assists for Columbus, which suffered its seventh loss in eight games. Daniil Tarasov made 24 saves on 29 shots before being pulled with 3:03 left in the second period. Michael Hutchinson finished up and made 10 saves.

Blues 3, Jets 0

Joel Hofer and Thomas Greiss combined for a 34-save shutout as St. Louis defeated visiting Winnipeg.

Hofer made 33 saves in his second game filling in for Jordan Binnington, who completed his two-game NHL suspension Sunday. Greiss stopped the only shot he faced while Hofer was out of the game for a skate repair. Kasperi Kapanen had a goal and an assist for the Blues, who have won four of their last six games. Nathan Walker and Jakub Vrana also scored for St. Louis.

Connor Hellebuyck made 14 saves for the Jets, who suffered their third loss in their last four games.

Devils 5, Lightning 2

Jesper Bratt notched his first career hat trick, and Nico Hischier netted the game-winner in a three-goal second period in New Jersey’s comeback win over host Tampa Bay.

The Devils trailed 2-0 in the second period but got three goals from the two forwards in less than six minutes to win for the first time in four games (1-2-1). Bratt and Hischier, who added an assist, each reached 30 goals in the win as New Jersey improved its stellar road record to 26-5-4.

For the Lightning, Nikita Kucherov reached 100 points with a goal, and Alex Killorn scored. Andrei Vasilevskiy (31-18-4) made 34 saves. New Jersey held Tampa Bay’s third-ranked power play scoreless on four attempts.

Canucks 2, Ducks 1

Elias Pettersson scored his career-high 33rd goal of the season as visiting Vancouver beat Anaheim and took both games of a two-game California swing.

Pettersson eclipsed his previous season best of 32 goals from last season. Canucks goalie Collin Delia stopped 17 shots. Delia grew up just north of Anaheim, home of the Ducks, in Rancho Cucamonga.

Ryan Strome scored the lone goal and John Gibson stopped 38 shots for Anaheim, which is halfway through an eight-game homestand.

–Field Level Media