The set-up: The 4-8-1 Vancouver Canucks travel to Madison Square Garden to take on the 10-3-0 NY Rangers, who are 8-1-0 to open the new season on home ice. New York has scored at least five goals in six of its last seven contests and in each contest of its current five-game winning streak. The Rangers have scored a league-high 55 goals and own an NHL-best plus-26 goal differential. In contrast, Vancouver heads into its fifth contest of its six-game road trip with a winless streak that has reached back nine games (0-8-1) after Monday's 4-2 loss to the New York Islanders.

Vancouver: The Canucks entered the third period tied at 2-2 on Monday but allowed two goals in a span of less than two minutes midway through the session and fell to 0-4-0 on their current road trip by the score of 4-2. Vancouver opened the season with four consecutive home games and began 4-0-0 but has now lost nine consecutive games (0-8-1).

NY Rangers: New York has won eight of its first nine home contests for the third time in franchise history, also accomplishing the feat in 1972-73 and 1990-91. Henrik Lundqvist is expected to be in net and comes in 7-3-0 on the season, posting a 2.21 GAA and a .914 save percentage.

The pick: Vancouver has scored fewer than three goals in 10 of its 13 games this season, while the Rangers have scored a league-high 55 goals and own an NHL-best plus-26 goal differential. Is it as simple as the Rangers can't seem to lose, while the Canucks can't seem to win? It never is. Franchise goals and points leader Daniel Sedin is heating up for the Canucks with goals in two straight contests following a seven-game drought plus goaltender Markstrom owns a better GAA (2.11) than Lundqvist, as well as a better save percentage (.920). Vancouver plus 1 1/2 goals is a 10* play.