Rookie goaltender Brandon Bussi stopped all 16 Rangers shots for his second shutout, improving to 23-3-1 on the season. The Long Island native, who grew up a Rangers fans and idolized Lundqvist, had 40 friends and family in attendance for his first-ever start at The Garden.

The Metropolitan Division-leading Carolina Hurricanes (35-15-6, 76 points) visit the last-place New York Rangers (22-28-6, 50 points) on Thursday night as the teams close out their pre-Olympic break schedules at Madison Square Garden.

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Rookie Brandon Bussi made 16 saves for his second shutout, Andrei Svechnikov gave Carolina an early lead in the first period and the Hurricanes topped the New York Rangers 2-0 on Thursday night to extend their points streak to 10 games.

Brandon Bussi made 16 saves for a shutout to lead the Carolina Hurricanes to a 2-0 win against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Thursday in what was a homecoming game the goalie will cherish for a long time.

The Carolina Hurricanes continue to look for additions after drawing links to Artemi Panarin earlier this season. Now, rumors once again connect the Hurricanes to forward Elias Pettersson, a storyline that has surfaced repeatedly over the past few years.

The New York Rangers host the Carolina Hurricanes after Alexis Lafreniere's two-goal game against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Rangers' 6-5 loss.