Rangers forward Mike Rupp says hello to the Hurricanes' Jerome Samson in the Blueshirts 3-2 win Thursday.  NY RANGERS 3, HURRICANES 2 RALEIGH, N.C. — What is it about North Carolina and bad news for the Rangers? Last season, Marc Staal sustained a concussion here after a thunderous hit from his brother Eric, the Hurricanes captain, on Feb. 22. Then on Thursday, Michael Del Zotto (day-to-day) aggravated a right hip injury in the Blueshirts’ 3-2 win over the ’Canes at the RBC Center, all while captain Ryan Callahan (day-to-day) was scratched and on crutches, wearing a gray, plastic boot on the right foot he bruised in Tuesday’s win over the Devils. Callahan said X-rays on his foot were negative and that the swelling and bruising just need to subside, but when asked if he could play if this were the playoffs, the captain had to be honest: “I mean, I don’t know — never say never, I guess. But it’s bad, and if I could play, I’d be out there, so it’s not any different just because it’s the regular season.” Thursday night, Martin Biron (21 saves) and the Rangers (41-15-6) showed they can play John Tortorella’s style with Callahan’s personality even when their captain is in the press box — which is a good thing, considering Callahan is likely out for Friday night’s game in Tampa Bay even though he said the injury is “definitely progressing.” “Cally is a big piece of this team, but he has an injury, and we need to find a way to win games without him,” said Artem Anisimov, who scored along with Marian Gaborik and Brandon Prust. “We play the same game, same concept, same system, but without our captain.” Callahan hurt the inside of his foot when he blocked an Ilya Kovalchuk wrist shot with 5:35 left in Tuesday’s second period. He remained in the game, playing eight shifts and 5:18 after the injury and scoring a late empty-net goal. The 26-year-old from Rochester is the heartbeat of this first-place club, and his absence would be felt more than his 25 goals, 22 assists and 67 blocked shots, which is fourth among all NHL forwards. The captain missed six weeks in the middle of last season with a broken hand after blocking a Kris Letang shot, and also the final two games of the regular season and playoffs after breaking his right ankle while blocking a Zdeno Chara slapper. The Rangers went 12-12-2 in his absence and were eliminated in five games by the Washington Capitals. “We’re gonna miss him, of course — he’s our leader,” said center Brian Boyle, who on Thursday buried Carolina defenseman Jaroslav Spacek before receiving a Ruslan Fedotenko pass and dishing to Prust for the game’s decisive goal 1:57 into the third period.  “He’s blocked a lot of shots, and a lot of us have blocked a lot of shots... but that’s the way we defend ... You can’t really say, ‘Is it worth it?’... We play a certain way, and it’s a huge part of why we’ve had success I think. It’s part of our identity.” Twitter.com/NYDNRangers
The only good news was Thursday night's 3-2 win over Carlolina as Marian Gaborik, Artem Anisimov and Brandon Prust found the net and backup goaltender Martin Biron kep the Hurricanes out of it with 21 saves. Biron is now 11-3 backing up Henrik Lundqvist.