Rangers vs. Canadiens: 3 things to watch for in crucial Original 6 clash

The New York Rangers are on their best run of the season, with points in seven straight games (5-0-2). Their first of four straight games against opponents either holding a wild-card spot or bunched up below the playoff line was a successful experience on Saturday.
After the Rangers grinded out a 1-0 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets decided on Vincent Trocheck’s goal in the second round of the shootout and Igor Shesterkin’s first shutout since the season opener, they make the trip north to visit an improved version of the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday.
The Rangers (22-20-3) are three points behind the Ottawa Senators for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference and need to overtake the Philadelphia Flyers, Canadiens (22-19-4) and Boston Bruins first. The Rangers already earned a 2-1 home win over Boston on Jan. 2 and following the trip to Montreal have home games against the Senators and Flyers.
It is possible the Rangers could be further behind the Senators, who could pass the Blue Jackets for the first wild card, by the time the opening face-off rolls around at Bell Centre. Ottawa is visiting the New Jersey Devils in a Sunday matinee after its 6-5 shootout win over Boston on Saturday.
The Rangers are coming off their sixth win of this season when scoring two goals or fewer — and three of those victories are in the past two weeks. New York has scored 23 goals during its season-high points streak and survived committing 19 giveaways Saturday, thanks to the brilliant play of Shesterkin.
The Rangers scored three goals on their first seven shots in the opening 6:40 and four in the opening period of 7-2 rout at Montreal on Oct. 22 when Filip Chytil scored twice and had a three-point night. It was their most goals in Montreal since a 7-3 win at the Forum on Feb. 22, 1972.
A little over a month later in New York, the Rangers scored three power-play goals and blew a two-goal lead before Kaapo Kakko scored with 24 seconds left in a 4-3 victory.
New York’s big win in the first meeting was part of its 12-4-1 start and part of Montreal’s rough opening weeks when it began 4-9-2.
Since then, the Canadiens are making a steady climb up the standings and are 14-7-1 since the last meeting. The Canadiens also are 11-3-1 in their past 15 since a 9-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Dec. 12, though they are looking to rebound from one of their worst showings all season.
On Saturday, Montreal was dealt a 7-3 home loss by the Toronto Maple Leafs. Montreal allowed seven straight goals after taking a 3-0 lead in the first period and allowed two power-play goals along with a pair of short-handed tallies.
Related: 3 Rangers takeaways from hugely important 1-0 shootout win against Blue Jackets
3 things to watch for when Rangers visit Canadiens

1. Potential milestone for Jonathan Quick
Since it’s the second end of a back-to-back, Jonathan Quick is likely to start. Quick will make his third attempt at becoming the first United States-born goalie to reach 400 career victories in the NHL and the 15th overall. Quick is also attempting to join Sergei Bobrovsky and Marc-Andre Fleury as the third active goalie with 400 wins.
The 38-year-old earned his 399th victory with a stellar 32-save showing against the Boston Bruins on Jan. 2 but allowed 11 goals in his next two starts against the Dallas Stars and Washington Capitals. He is 14-9-4 with a 2.34 goals-against average and .919 save percentage in his career against the Canadiens.
2. Carryover of animosity
The first two games in this season series featured a combined 80 penalty minutes, including former defenseman Jacob Trouba’s thunderous hit on Justin Barron in the first meeting. Barron was helped off the ice dazed and bloodied, and Trouba was not penalized. In the immediate aftermath Montreal defenseman Mike Matheson took an instigator penalty for starting a fight with Trouba at 7:11 of the third period.
In New York, Trouba fought Josh Anderson 1:58 into the contest and late in the second period, there were seven roughing penalties handed out for a full scale skirmish and it took officials a little over 10 minutes to figure out how the distribute the penalties.
Trouba no longer is with the Rangers and visited Montreal last month in his Anaheim Ducks debut, so it’s possible the Canadiens may have moved on from their animosity towards him and the Rangers.
3. Facing another top offensive defenseman

For the fourth time in five games, the Rangers will face a productive defenseman when they attempt to contain Montreal rookie Lane Hutson, after holding Norris Trophy contender Zach Werenski to one shot and blocking three other attempts on Saturday. The Rangers faced Werenski after going up against Cale Makar and Shea Theodore of the Colorado Avalanche and Vegas Golden Knights respectively on the road trip. Makar had an assist Tuesday and Theodore had four shots blocked in a scoreless outing Jan. 11.
Hutson leads all first-year players in scoring with 37 points and is sixth among NHL defenseman. His 34 assists are three behind Vancouver’s Quinn Hughes for the League lead among D-men. The 20-year-old has 11 points (one goal and 10 assists) in a seven-game point streak, though he was on the ice for five even-strength goals Saturday.
Hutson was on the ice for four goals in the first meeting and collected an assist in New York.
New York Rangers projected lineup
Panarin – Trocheck – Lafreniere
Cuylle – Zibanejad – Smith
Kreider – Chytil – Kaliyev
Edstrom – Carrick – Rempe
Lindgren – Fox
Miller – Borgen
Vaakanainen – Schneider
Quick
Shesterkin
Rangers vs. Canadiens: When, where, what time, how to watch
Who: New York Rangers vs. Montreal Canadiens
When: Sunday, Jan. 19 at 7 p.m. ET
Where: Bell Centre
How to watch: MSG
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