This weekend, the Rangers have a home-and-home series with the Hurricanes. Considering where they are in the standings, they need to take care of business. Especially with the Capitals paying a visit to MSG on Tuesday. Entering tonight’s match at Raleigh, they trail the Caps by two points for third in the Metropolitan Division. Washington has 36 points and have played two more games. Both teams are in action later. The Caps visit the Devils.

For the Blueshirts, it’s simple. Keep it rolling against a beatable opponent. The Canes rank 29th in the league with a 9-19-3 record. Only the Oilers are worse. However, they are coming off a 4-1 win over the Leafs which snapped a six-game losing streak. Cam Ward stopped 25 shots. Carolina had four different scorers- Chris Terry, Justin Faulk, Andrej Sekera and Elias Lindholm. Thus far, six of the Canes’ nine wins have come at home. Actually, they’re a respectable 6-7-1. Their fans are loud. So, it isn’t an easy place to play.

Interestingly, Faulk leads the Canes in scoring with 19 points. He’s developed offensively. In his fourth year, Faulk is on track for new career highs across the board. In ’13-14, he tallied five goals and 27 assists for 32 points. This season, he has seven power play points (2-5-7) and leads Carolina with two shorthanded goals and three game-winners. The Rangers must keep close track of the dangerous rover.

It’s been a struggle for captain Eric Staal. In 26 games, he has 18 points (7-11-18). The oldest Staal is coming off a two assist game. It’s always intriguing when he goes up against younger brother Marc. Of course, there also is the bad memory of Eric accidentally injuring Marc with a hit that concussed him. That had to be very hard for the family.

If there is a player to watch, it’s Jeff Skinner. He hasn’t had a good start with only seven goals and 15 points in 27 contests. Skinner is dangerous and has great end to end speed. Ryan McDonagh and Dan Girardi should have the task of slowing him down.

Other Canes to watch are Lindholm, Terry, streaky scorer Jiri Tlusty and Riley Nash. Nathan Gerbe is also pesky. The defense is capable of contributing led by Faulk and Sekera. It can be exploited. Carolina lacks a shutdown tandem. They depend on vets Tim Gleason and Ron Hainsey. The Rangers should be able to sustain a forecheck. With red hot sniper Rick Nash bringing a career high 11-game point streak in, there’s a lot of potential for a big weekend. Mats Zuccarello could continue to surge and Chris Kreider should make his presence felt.

On the health front, they’ll get back Derick Brassard. He missed two games with the mumps. He says he’ll go tonight which should be a boost. That will allow Alain Vigneault to shift J.T. Miller back to wing. However, Lee Stempniak is the latest mumps victim. So, he’s away from the team. It’ll be interesting to see if Vigneault sticks with Kreider on the second line with Derek Stepan and Marty St. Louis. If so, does Miller slide down to play with Kevin Hayes and Carl Hagelin? Probably. That leaves Dominic Moore centering Tanner Glass and Jesper Fast.

On the back end, the only question is will John Moore continue to play over Matt Hunwick. Moore hasn’t been good since returning. But Vigneault’s giving him a chance to prove himself. Is Moore another Del Zotto? That remains to be seen. He is restricted next summer. Unless he improves, I don’t see the Rangers qualifying him.

Henrik Lundqvist brings a four-game win streak in. He’s posted a 1.47 GAA, .946 save percentage and a shutout. Win or lose, figure Vigneault to rest him for tomorrow’s MSG rematch. Cam Talbot should get the call.

I’ll have recaps of both on the blog. Follow me at @newyorkpuck.