Elias Pettersson, Canucks brace for visit from Rangers

Vancouver forward Elias Pettersson's rediscovered scoring touch will be put to the test when the Canucks host the road warrior New York Rangers on Tuesday night.

It took a six-game homestand for Pettersson to break out of his scoring slump. The slick Swede struggled in the first few weeks of the season, but now has four goals in his last five games.

He scored a power-play goal at 9:51 of the second period to give Vancouver a 2-1 lead in a 5-3 loss to the Nashville Predators on Sunday.

"I got to put good games together in a row. I got to make it my identity," Pettersson said of the weekend.

The Canucks have just three wins in 10 home games this season and they are hoping to end the current homestand on a positive note against New York.

This will be the second game of a four-game road trip through the west for the Rangers.

If he gets the starts on Tuesday, New York netminder Jonathan Quick will look to extend his marathon shutout streak.

Quick, who is considered the backup to 28-year-old Igor Shesterkin, has won all four of his starts this season and recorded his second consecutive shutout in a 2-0 win over the Seattle Kraken on Sunday night.

Quick has an active shutout streak of 128:05, dating back to a Nov. 7 relief appearance in a 6-1 loss to the Buffalo Sabres.

"That's a testament to the way these guys are playing in front of me here," Quick said after the Seattle game. "We put ourselves in a great opportunity to defend well and win a game."

Quick, 38, last posted shutouts in consecutive starts more than 13 years ago. The last time it happened was the 2011-12 season when he recorded three in a row with the Los Angeles Kings.

His 397 wins are the most all-time by U.S.-born goalies, and his 62 shutouts rank 18th on the all-time list.

"Obviously, you're honored to have those numbers," Quick said. "At the end of the day as a goalie you're very dependent on your team in front of you. All those numbers really mean is I've played with some great players, teams that value winning more than anything."

New York improved to 6-1-0 on the road with the win over the Kraken.

Alexis Lafreniere and Zac Jones scored for the Rangers, who won their second straight game and improved to 10-0-0 when scoring first this season.

"I liked everything about the game," Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said. "I liked Jonathan's game, it was really good. I thought we were good defensively. We made good decisions with the puck. When it did come time to defend, I thought we were in the right place."

Pettersson, Kiefer Sherwood and Aatu Raty scored goals as the host Canucks squandered a second-period lead to Nashville.

Canucks center J.T. Miller sat for most of the third period, getting just two shifts. He finished with 11:41 of ice time, his lowest game total in the past six seasons.

"He wasn't one of the guys I thought could get us back into the game," coach Rick Tocchet said.

The Canucks announced Tuesday that Miller is taking an indefinite leave of absence for undisclosed personal reasons.

"Right now, our sole focus is making sure that J.T. knows the entire organization is here to support him," Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin said in a statement. "Out of respect to J.T., we will have no further comment at this time."

Also on Tuesday, ESPN reported Rangers forward Filip Chytil is close to a return after medical examinations determined he did not sustain a concussion last week.

Chytil, 25, is day-to-day with an upper-body injury and will reportedly rejoin the team ahead of Thursday's game in Calgary.

Chytil, who has a history of head injuries, collided with teammate K'Andre Miller during the second period of last Thursday's 3-2 victory against the San Jose Sharks. He returned for one shift later in the period before retreating to the locker room.

--Field Level Media