Rangers face true test against Carolina after feel-good win over Blues: 'It's been a tale of two teams'

RALEIGH, N.C. – Monday’s win over the St. Louis Blues was a nice, feel-good thing for the Rangers. It allowed them to talk about how they’d gotten back to playing the way they had been playing earlier in the season, when they were proud of their tight defensive game, and all those scoring chances they’d been generating.

“When you look at the way the season’s played out to this point, it’s been a tale of two teams,’’ coach Mike Sullivan told reporters at Tuesday’s practice in Greenburgh. “And I think early on the first dozen or so games… I feel like the game we were putting on the ice, the identity that we were trying to build was giving us a chance to win.’’

After the game, Sullivan and the players talked about how against St. Louis they were able to get back to the way they played in those early games. The problem is the 7-10-6 Blues, playing backup goaltender Joel Hofer, are, frankly, not a particularly good team.

So while Monday’s win ended their four-game losing streak, improved their home record to 2-7-1, and was a reward for their playing “the right way,’’ the truth is that it didn’t prove anything about the 11-11-2 Rangers. They merely won a game they were absolutely expected to win.

Now, facing the 14-6-2 Carolina Hurricanes, the top team in the Eastern Conference, Wednesday in Lenovo Center will be a much greater challenge.

Carolina spanked the Rangers, 3-0, in the teams’ first meeting at the Garden on Nov. 4. The Hurricanes played without ex-Ranger K’Andre Miller that night, and goalie Pyotr Kochetkov played his first game of the season. Kochetkov made 25 saves – just one of those in the third period – to earn the shutout. It wasn’t a close contest.

So the Hurricanes will be a measuring stick for the Rangers, and how they stack up against Carolina will tell a lot about how far they have to go to get to where they want to get – which is back to the playoffs.

If there’s positive news for the Rangers, it’s that they may be getting help in the form of defenseman Will Borgen and captain J.T. Miller, who have missed the last three, and two games, respectively, with upper-body injuries. Both practiced Tuesday in non-contact jerseys, and Borgen is eligible to come off injured reserve Wednesday. Miller, who scored two power play goals in his last game, last Thursday in Colorado, worked on the power play at Tuesday’s practice.

They won’t have backup goaltender Jonathan Quick, though. Quick was placed on injured reserve with a lower-body injury suffered in Saturday’s 3-2 road loss to Utah. That opened a roster spot for Borgen, if he’s ready to be activated. Dylan Garand, who served as Igor Shesterkin’s backup Monday, made the trip to Carolina and will back up Shesterkin up again Wednesday.

There’s also a chance the Rangers could be getting additional reinforcements from their farm team in Hartford. Forward Juuso Parssinen was placed on waivers Tuesday, and if he clears waivers Wednesday, he likely will be assigned to Hartford. That would open another roster spot, which could filled by a young forward, or perhaps a defenseman who would provide cover if Borgen either can’t play Wednesday, or plays Wednesday, but then can’t play Friday afternoon in Boston.

Parssinen, 24, who was acquired from Colorado at last season’s trade deadline in the Ryan Lindgren deal, signed a two-year, $2.5 million contract after last season and was expected to be the third-line center. But when rookie Noah Laba tore it up in the preseason, he became the No. 3 center, and Parssinen was left without a role.

“It’s a competitive situation,’’ Sullivan said. “We tried (Parssinen) a lot in the middle early on, (when) we were exploring options for that third line center role. And we felt that the way Labs’ game evolved over the course of training camp, we thought Labs was the best option for us. We moved Pars to the wing, and I think the wing position in that bottom six has been competitive.

“I think he’s had some games where he’s played very well for us,’’ Sullivan continued. “Some of the other guys that have been in the lineup have also. And that’s where the decisions lie.’’

Parssinen played 14 games, scoring two goals with one assist and two penalty minutes. He was a plus-3.

By Colin Stephenson

colin.stephenson@newsday.comColinSNewsday

Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.