Discouraging update on Rangers' Chris Kreider

The New York Rangers were on cruise control against the Carolina Hurricanes in their Round 2 Stanley Cup Playoff series, enjoying a three games to none lead and having won seven straight games since the start of the annual tournament. 

However, what was a very comfortable situation has now turned anything but, as the Hurricanes have grabbed the momentum right back with two straight victories, the latest of which was in comeback fashion at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan on Monday night. 

The pressure is now on the Rangers to eliminate the Hurricanes from the postseason and prevent them from tying the series, which picks back up tomorrow night at what will be a rocking PNC Arena in Raleigh. But ahead of the matchup, there was some less than ideal news for New York. 

Veteran forward Chris Kreider was absent from today's practice, and right now, it doesn't appear as though there's a clear picture regarding his status for tomorrow night.

"I'm hoping that today was just a normal playoff maintenance," head coach Peter Laviolette said, which didn't do much to quell the fears of fans that he could be absent for Game 6. 

After another highly productive regular season campaign that saw him score 39 goals, Kreider has followed that up by scoring four goals in the nine playoff games that he's appeared in so far in the spring. 

Tomorrow's game will start at 7:00 PM EST from Raleigh. Can the Rangers punch their ticket to the Eastern Conference Final, or will the Hurricanes force the series to go the distance with a third straight win? 

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