Fansided

Blueshirts look to bounce back in Montreal

By Joseph Gucciardo |
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 01: New York Rangers Defenceman Brendan Smith (42) takes a shot off the goalpost during the first period of the National Hockey League game between the Montreal Canadiens and the New York Rangers on March 1, 2019 at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY. (Photo by Joshua Sarner/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 01: New York Rangers Defenceman Brendan Smith (42) takes a shot off the goalpost during the first period of the National Hockey League game between the Montreal Canadiens and the New York Rangers on March 1, 2019 at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY. (Photo by Joshua Sarner/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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After a deflating loss in Ottawa on Friday night, the New York Rangers continue their eastern Canada road trip as they visit the Montreal Canadiens.

One night after a depressing 4-1 defeat against the Ottawa Senators, the New York Rangers travel to Quebec for a Saturday night battle with the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre.

In the game against the Sens, the Rangers were thoroughly outplayed, falling behind in the first minute of play.  Rookie Logan Brown scored his first NHL goal and ex-Ranger Anthony Duclair added another while Jacob Trouba scored the Rangers’ only goal of the night.  Henrik Lundqvist made 35 saves in a game the Rangers didn’t show up for.

Coach David Quinn said after the loss that the Blueshirts have needed to have bounce-back efforts far to often this season, and Saturday night in Montreal is no different.

“Unfortunately, we’ve responded well to games like these, but they’ve happened too often,” Quinn said. “Hopefully we can follow the trend where when we don’t play well, we come back and put forth a much better effort.”

About the Canadiens

The Rangers’ all-time record against Montreal will make any Blueshirts fan cringe. It stands at 196-334-94-5, with the Rangers going 66-206-40-3 as the road team. The Habs won the season series two games to one last year.

Through their first 22 games, left winger Tomas Tatar has led the way for Montreal in scoring with seven goals and 13 assists (20 points). Drfenseman Shea Weber (6-11–17), right winger Brendan Gallagher (9-8–17) and center Phillip Danault (6-11–17) are right behind him.

Center Max Domi, who is the son of former NHL enforcer and ex-Ranger Tie Domi, has posted four goals and nine assists in 22 games with the team this season. It’s also worth mentioning that Domi and Rangers forward Brendan Lemieux – the son of Claude Lemieux – have a bit of history with each other. And I don’t just mean between their fathers.  There is no doubt that we will see those two tangle at some point in tonight’s contest.

Goaltender Carey Price is 10-5-3 with a 2.71 goals-against average and a .912 save percentage this season. Price’s backup, and former New Jersey Devil, Keith Kinkaid is 1-1-2 with a 4.23 goals-against average and a .887 save percentage in 2019-20.

The Canadiens are in third place in the Atlantic Division with a record of 11-6-5, but they have lost four in a row and will be looking to get back on the winning track.

About the Rangers

With the absence of Mika Zibanejad clearly being felt, the Rangers have relied heavily on Artemi Panarin who’s 25 points (11 goals, 14 assists) leads the team by six points over Ryan Strome’s 19 (six goals, 13 assists).

However, Panarin had his 12-game point streak snapped in last night’s contest in Ontario.

Also making their presence felt this season are defenseman Anthony DeAngelo (6-9–15) and forward Pavel Buchnevich (3-14–17). Zibanejad stands at 11 points (4 goals, seven assists), having only played nine contests.

Since Henrik Lundqvist played last night in Ottawa, Alexander Georgiev is expected to start tonight against the Habs. Georgiev made 38 saves while making his NHL debut with the Rangers on Feb. 22, 2018 at Montreal. The 38 saves were the most by a Rangers goaltender in his NHL debut in franchise history.

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Three things the Rangers need to do to win

  1. Be physical – Max Domi isn’t the only physical Habs player. Tomas Tatar and Jeff Petry play a hard game and Brendan Gallagher is one of the great agitators in the NHL. If Montreal comes out tough, the Rangers have to match their intensity, and possibly even exceed it.
  2. More than bread – Artemi Panarin can not be the only player to have an impact to win, which has happened numerous times already this season. The Rangers need production from all aspects of their lineup – or at last most of it – in order to win tonight.
  3. Win the special teams battle – Montreal’s power play percentage is 12th-best in the NHL at 20.9 percent, while their penalty killing percentage is 72.5 percent, fourth worst in the league. The Rangers need to take advantage of every power play they have tonight against what is a very weak Montreal penalty kill. They’ve been stopped in four of the last five games so they need to reverse that trend.

Game Information

Tonight’s game will be televised locally on MSG 2, and WEPN 1050AM will carry the local radiocast. The game is scheduled to start at 7 p.m.

After tonight’s contest, the Rangers return home to host the Minnesota Wild on Monday.

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