Tonight at 7:30 p.m. ET, the Montreal Canadiens (6-5-0) and New York Rangers (3-6-0) faceoff for the first of three meetings this season live from Madison Square Garden in New York City. The game can be live streamed here. Montreal fans can hear all of the hard-hitting action on TSN Radio 690 while New York fans can do the same by turning their dials to 98.7 ESPN Radio.
The Canadiens enter this contest after losing three out of their last four and are in fifth place in the Atlantic Division, four points shy of the division-leading Tampa Bay Rays while the Rangers enter their first home game in seventh place in the Metropolitan Division and are eight points behind the first place Penguins after losing six out of their nine games in a season-opening road trip.
Montreal enters the game after dropping a 2-0 decision to the San Jose Sharks Saturday night in a game where they were outshot 37-22, a recurring theme over their last few games.
They were on us all night long," Brian Gionta told reporters, according to NHL.com. "We couldn't seem to generate much. We have to do a better job."
New York, meanwhile, will be excited to be home to the newly renovated Madison Square Garden where it hopes to put a mostly forgetful road trip behind it. After a lopsided road schedule while the finishing touches were put on MSG, the Rangers will play nine out of their next 12 at home and look to get back in the division race. The team will also get goalie Henrik Lundqvist back after he missed two games due to a "minor issue" that was never specified by the team.
"I feel good, so it's not something I'll think about, just about the game and stopping the next shot," Lundqvist told The New York Daily News about his undisclosed ailment. "I'm really excited to be back at home and be able to play."
Lundqvist has not looked like his former Vezina-winning self thus far this season, putting up a 3.45 goals-against average and an .890 save percentage along with a 2-4-0 record. Lundqvist's injury reportedly occurred in just the second game of the season, but he's confident enough to move forward now.
For Montreal, Carey Price has started between the pipes in 10 of 11 games to start the year, yielding a 5-5-0 record to go along with a 2.12 GAA And a .937 save percentage.
Price will be going up against a Rangers team that has struggled to score and is missing top-six forwards Rick Nash (concussion), Ryan Callahan (broken left thumb) and Carl Hagelin (offseason shoulder surgery). Out of its healthy players, New York only boasts one member of the team that has more than one goal on the season, and that is Brad Richards, who leads the team in goals (5) and points (8) while adding three assists. Derick Brassard leads the team in assists with four and has lit the lamp once for five points.
Montreal has been paced by defenseman P.K. Subban, who has notched 11 points on two goals and a team-high nine assists. Tomas Plekanec and Lars Eller are tied with a team-high five goals while Plekanec has four assists for nine points and Eller has three helpers for eight points.
The Canadiens hope that they can start to shoot the puck more while the Rangers will look for their homecoming to turn things around with a healthy Lundqvist in net when the puck drops at Madison Square Garden in New York City tonight.
© Copyright 2024 Sports World News, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
