Rangers vs. Canadiens: Lineups, storylines to start 7 games in 11 days
Hopefully the New York Rangers rested up this past week, when they played one game in a five-day stretch. Because from now until the NHL holiday break, it’s Go Time. Beginning Saturday, when they host the Montreal Canadiens at Madison Square Garden, the Rangers schedule features a wicked stretch of seven games in 11 days.
Though it’s well-worn cliche, the Rangers (15-13-4) know now more than ever they must simply focus on what’s right in front of them, and not the busy bigger picture. So, that means trying to get back on the winning side of the ledger Saturday, amid a three-game winless skid (0-1-2).
The first two of those defeats, last weekend against the Colorado Avalanche and Vegas Golden Knights, were in overtime. And the Rangers deservedly picked up a point in each loss.
That wasn’t the case Wednesday, when the Rangers were shut out by the Chicago Blackhawks 3-0. Out-played and a step or two slow all night, the Rangers weren’t at all happy with their performance.
Saturday provides the next opportunity for the Rangers to re-set in this rollercoaster season.
“We didn’t have our best in Chicago, I think we all know that in this room,” veteran forward Conor Sheary said Friday after practice. “Come out [Saturday] with a little more energy and try to get a win on home ice.”
Rangers captain J.T. Miller was even more direct in his comments Friday.
“I know we’re going to bounce back. Every time we seem to have a lapse, we bounce back as a group,” Miller stated firmly. “I’m confident we’re going to be good on Saturday.”
They certainly must be on their toes and ready to skate against the speedy Canadiens (16-11-3), who are one point ahead of the Rangers (with two games in hand) in the tight Eastern Conference standings. The Rangers won the first head-to-head meeting with the Canadiens, rallying with three goals in the third period for a 4-3 road victory on Oct. 18.
After a 10-3-2 start this season, the Canadiens are 6-8-1 since Nov. 11. Montreal comes off a 4-2 road win at the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday, when rookie goaltender Jacob Fowler made 36 saves to win his NHL debut.
3 storylines when Rangers host Canadiens
1. Gonna get scoring chances
The Rangers are 29th in the League, averaging 2.56 goals scored. They’ve been shut out six times, five of those on home ice. But they should get plenty of chances to change that narrative on Saturday.
The high-flying Canadiens own a minus-10 goal differential, and their team GAA of 3.50 is tied for third worst in the NHL. They give up plenty of scoring chances and their goalies don;t exactly bail them out often enough. Montreal’s allowed four or more goals in 14 games, and at least six on five occasions.
Maybe Fowler is the tonic to cure Montreal’s goaltending ills. But the Rangers should see this is as a big opportunity to break out offensively, after totaling only four goals in their past three games
2. Centennial woes
The Rangers celebrate “The New Garden” years (1967-91) on Saturday as part of their 100th NHL season. What they’d really like to celebrate is an actual victory in their sharp Centennial sweaters. The Rangers lost their first five games wearing the good-looking threads this season, and scored just two goals total in those contests. That includes the shutout defeat Wednesday in Chicago.
Saturday marks their 646th regular-season game against the Canadiens. The Rangers are 207-337-7 with 94 ties all-time against the Canadiens. More relevant, they have points in their past eight games (6-0-2) against the Habs.
New York is 3-2-1 against Original 6 foes this season. Montreal is 4-2-0 in such games.
3. Milestone games
Igor Shesterkin joins a select group Saturday, when he becomes the eighth goalie in Rangers history to play 300 games for the franchise. An interesting note is that Shesterkin already has more career wins (174) than two of the goalies ahead of him on the Rangers games-played list — Chuck Rayner (377 games; 123 wins) and Dave Kerr 324 games; 157 wins). Of course, Kerr led the Rangers to a Stanley Cup championship in 1940, so there’s that.
Shesterkin’s allowed two goals or fewer 14 times this season, second most in the NHL. His 2.48 goals-against average is fourth best among goalies who’ve made at least 20 starts this season. And his 15.1 goals saved above expected is fifth most in the League, per MoneyPuck.
Rangers forward Will Cuylle plays his 200th NHL game Saturday. He’s played all 32 games this season, and missed just one game — as a healthy scratch — in his three full NHL campaigns. The 23-year-old is third on the Rangers with eight goals, and second with three power-play tallies. His 109 hits lead the Rangers and are fifth most in the NHL.
New York Rangers projected lineup
Artemi Panarin — Mika Zibanejad — Alexis Lafreniere
J.T. Miller — Vincent Trocheck — Conor Sheary
Will Cuylle — Noah Laba — Brett Berard
Jaroslav Chmelar — Sam Carrick — Taylor Raddysh
Vladislav Gavrikov — Braden Schneider
Carson Soucy — Will Borgen
Urho Vaakanainen — Matthew Robertson
Igor Shesterkin
Jonathan Quick
Rangers vs. Canadiens: When, where, what time, how to watch
Who: New York Rangers vs. Montreal Canadiens
When: Saturday, Dec. 13 at 7 p.m. ET
Where: Madison Square Garden
How to watch: MSG
“One of the things that I’ve always been a strong believer in is I think your mindset going into a game goes a long way to set you up for success. You’ve got to bring the right mindset even before the puck is dropped, and I think that is important for us. I think we have to have the right mindset, the right intentions before the puck’s dropped, and that’s going to set us up for success and give us the opportunity to put the game on the ice that we want to put on the ice.
“Why can’t you have your A Game every night? That’s the human element of sports. We’re trying to navigate through this stuff.
“Again it’s the human element. There are things as a coaching staff you can predict, and there are other you can’t. I’d be lying if I told I could’ve predicted that one coming into this season. … I think the guys did a good job … we try to focus on the process. Let’s play the game the right way. Let’s stick to it. Let’s stay in the moment, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Let’s not dwell on the circumstance
“It’s a long season, it’s just the next game, doesn’t matter where it is for us. We’re not going to win every game on the road. We’re not going to lose every game at home. It all evens out over the course. We’ve been better [at home], we take pride in that arena.
“I’ve never done it before until this year. It’s new. It’s a hard position to play up there. I know Bread and Mika are trying to obviously learn it. Foxy is such a big piece of our power-play unit, little nuances in his game that help us so much. Just have to find a way to find a little better rhythm. i think these past couple games we’ve struggled with pressure a little bit … we’re just not executing as sharply. We’ve gotten a couple looks, that being said. But not up to our standard either.
