New York Rangers (12-10-4) at Vancouver Canucks (18-9-2), 10 p.m. (ET)
(SportsNetwork.com) - John Tortorella failed to lead the Vancouver Canucks to the playoffs in 2013-14, one big reason why his tenure as the club's head coach lasted only one season.
Tortorella also failed to beat former Canucks and current New York Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault in two meetings a season ago. New Vancouver bench boss Willie Desjardins hopes for better luck on Saturday night when his club plays host to the Rangers.
Vigneault led the Canucks to 30-or-more wins in six straight seasons before the lockout-shortened campaign ended that streak in 2013. He also got Vancouver to within one win of the franchise's first Stanley Cup title in the spring of 2011, only to lose a home Game 7 to the Bruins.
Vancouver still made the playoffs under Vigneault in 2013, but was swept out of the first round and the early exit cost the coach his job.
The Canucks opted to replace him with Tortorella after he had been let go by the Rangers, but Vancouver missed the playoffs and Tortorella's style seemed to clash with many on the Canucks roster.
Vigneault, meanwhile, saw his Rangers beat the Canucks twice last regular season, extending their series winning streak to four straight, and New York reached the Stanley Cup Finals, where it lost in five games to the Los Angeles Kings.
While New York sits fourth in the Metropolitan Division, three points behind third-place Washington, Vancouver is behind only Anaheim in the Pacific Division and is clicking under Desjardins, who was hired to replace Tortorella on June 23.
Desjardins will look for his club to pick up the pace in the start of a four- game homestand as the Canucks return to Vancouver following a 3-3-1 road trip. They lost the final three games of the trek, including Tuesday's 3-1 decision in Montreal.
Ryan Miller stopped 22 shots in the loss and Derek Dorsett's second-period short-handed goal was the lone offense for the Canucks. It was the club's fourth short-handed tally of the season.
"It's not an excuse. You have to play at another level when you're on a long road trip as we are," Miller said. "We were definitely playing like we're at the end, but we competed hard. I'm just sorry we couldn't stretch it into overtime, but that's the way it goes."
The Rangers come in rested as well, having been out of action since a 4-3 victory at home over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday.
It was an eventful game for Blueshirts defenseman Kevin Klein, who netted the winning goal with 1:15 to go in overtime, putting him a shot from the high slot and through a screen.
"I just tried to shoot it far side and it managed to go in. I'm happy for that one," said Klein, who has three game-winning goals among his career-high six tallies this season.
Earlier in the game, Klein suffered a cut to his left ear on a high stick from Penguins forward Zach Sill and had to get 13 stitches to re-attach the upper part of his ear.
J.T. Miller, Kevin Hayes and Rick Nash all scored for the Rangers, who snapped a two-game slide ahead of tonight's opener of a four-game road trip. Henrik Lundqvist stopped 32 shots in the win.
Forward Chris Kreider did not play on Monday due to a neck injury.