(Sports Network) - The New York Rangers will shoot for a fourth consecutive victory when they welcome the sliding Atlanta Thrashers for tonight's battle at Madison Square Garden.
Despite playing without key offensive players Marian Gaborik and Chris Drury, the Rangers have been able to rattle off three straight victories thanks to some stingy play. New York has allowed just four goals combined during the current winning streak and is coming off Sunday's 3-1 victory over the rival New Jersey Devils.
The win over Jersey kicked off a three-game homestand for the Rangers, who are 1-1-1 as the host and will complete the residency Friday night against Carolina.
Ryan Callahan, Michal Rozsival and Brandon Dubinsky each had a goal and an assist, as the New York Rangers held off the New Jersey Devils, 3-1, at Madison Square Garden.
Henrik Lundqvist turned aside 27-of-28 shots for the Rangers, who picked up their first home victory of the season.
"You need some luck, in tight games; you need that extra bounce and tonight we had it," Lundqvist said. "I think we earned it for working so hard the whole game. We played simple and hard. The guys have been working really hard and it's paying off. We are finishing checks a little more and guys are skating harder, a lot of blocked shots; we are really paying the price the last couple of games and it's great to see."
The Thrashers have lost three straight games, but were able to record a point in their most recent defeat, an overtime setback Saturday in Washington. Alexander Semin notched his fourth career hat trick and Tomas Fleischmann scored the winning goal 1:37 into overtime to lift the Capitals to the 4-3 decision.
Evander Kane netted two goals, including the tying tally with 32.9 seconds left in regulation, for the Thrashers. Chris Mason made 40 saves.
"It just shows the resiliency of our team," Kane said. "We always find a way to battle back."
The OT loss dropped the Thrashers to 2-2-1 on the road this season.
Atlanta defenseman Zach Bogosian will miss his sixth straight game with a shoulder injury as he has not made the trip to New York. Fellow defenseman Freddy Meyer is also questionable for tonight with an undisclosed injury.
The Thrashers won three of four against New York last year and have taken five of six overall in the series. Atlanta has also claimed victories in each of its last three trips to Manhattan and has won six out of nine at MSG.