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.

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.

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 Hurricanes would apparently consider trading young Russian defenseman Alexander Nikishin for a star player

The Carolina Hurricanes, Florida Panthers, Los Angeles Kings, and San Jose Sharks were among the teams willing to extend Artemi Panarin, with all still in the mix but viewing the winger’s value differently,