Five NHL questions: Rangers end marathon road trip, Streit visits Long Island

A daily feature that asks the five biggest questions about today’s NHL action. Will they be answered? (That doesn’t count as one of the five questions.)

by Patrick Iversen

Oct 26, 2013, 4:07 PM UTC

Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

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NHL Saturday: Devils mount last-minute comeback in Boston

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1. Will the Rangers end the mother of all road trips on a high note?

New York's nine-game (nine!) road trip to start the season finally comes to an end on Saturday when the Rangers visit the Detroit Red Wings. Interestingly enough, they haven't won in Detroit in this century, with their last win at Joe Louis Arena coming in 1999. As Detroit coach Mike Babcock pointed out on Saturday, the first one to score might win.

2. Can Alex Chiasson continue his torrid start to his NHL career?

Stars rookie Alex Chiasson has 11 goals in 16 career games as an NHL pro, including five this year after scoring twice against Calgary on Thursday. So far he’s a point-per-game player. He can’t keep this up, can he?

3. Will the Islanders spoil Mark Streit's homecoming?

Streit spent the last five seasons on Long Island before being traded away to Philadelphia this summer. Beating the Islanders will be a tall task for his new team. The Flyers can't score a goal to save their lives right now, and New York just defeated the Penguins 4-3 on Friday.

4. Will Niklas Backstrom start for Minnesota or will he succumb to injuries?

Backstrom has admitted that he's not fully recovered from a lingering knee injury but was forced to play when Josh Harding was injured yet again on Thursday. Ever the team player, Backstrom might battle through and play in Chicago on Saturday. But at what cost?

5. Will Washington push their win streak to four games?

The Capitals come into Calgary on Saturday on the heels of a 4-1 thrashing of Edmonton on Thursday. Calgary has played better than many expected thus far, but seem to be crashing back to Earth after a 5-1 demolishing at the hands of the Dallas Stars on Thursday. The Flames looked lost then, so imagine what they'll look like chasing Alex Ovechkin around.