northernlou
Idi Admin
Preview: NY Rangers at Montreal
7:00 PM ET, Saturday, March 26, 2016
Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec
A pair of impressive victories has revived the New York Rangers, who look to maintain their hold on second place in the Metropolitan Division when they visit the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night. The Rangers enter the weekend holding a four-point lead over the third-place Pittsburgh and a showdown looming with the Penguins on Sunday night.
After stumbling through a five-game stretch in which it went 1-2-2, New York regained its confidence with decisive wins over Eastern Conference contenders Florida and Boston. "We've got everything in the room," Rangers defenseman Kevin Klein said. "We've got the leadership. We've got the skill. We've got the goaltending to make a long stretch and we've got guys on the team that have won Stanley Cups and we've got guys that are really, really hungry and it's a great mix." New York has dropped three straight to Montreal, which outscored its Original Six rival 8-1 in a pair of victories earlier in the season.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, MSG-Plus (New York), TVA (Montreal)
ABOUT THE RANGERS (42-24-8): New York's power play produced only two goals in an 18-game span coming out of the Christmas break, but has turned things around with 14 man-advantage tallies over the past 20 contests. Defenseman Keith Yandle set up a pair of power-play goals in Wednesday's 5-2 win over Boston to move into a tie for third on the team with 42 points. “It gets the group going,” said Yandle, who has 17 power-play assists. “It’s something that we know: Late in the season, your specialty teams have to be good. Any way you can find ways to win, it’s big now.”
ABOUT THE CANADIENS (34-35-6): Star defenseman P.K. Subban (neck) will miss his eighth consecutive game and told reporters after Friday's practice that "the focus needs to be on the team, not on me." One player who has benefited from Subban's absence is rookie blue-liner Joel Hanley, who has collected four assists in his first three NHL goals, including two apiece in the last two. "He has great hockey sense and is very composed with the puck," Montreal coach Michel Therrien said. "He’s looked very comfortable for a player who just started out in the NHL."
OVERTIME
1. Rangers G Antti Raanta will take a 9-5-2 and 2.34 goals-against average into Saturday's matchup.
2. Canadiens rookie G Mike Condon, who has surrendered 14 goals in his last four appearances, will make his first start versus New York.
3. Rangers leading scorer Mats Zuccarello has tallied in back-to-back games but has only one goal in 13 contests versus Montreal.
Trends
Rangers are 3-12 in the last 15 meetings in Montreal.
Rangers are 1-4 in the last 5 meetings.
Canadiens are 27-13 in their last 40 vs. Metropolitan
http://www.covers.com/pageLoader/pageLoader.aspx?page=/data/nhl/matchups/g2_preview_8.html
7:00 PM ET, Saturday, March 26, 2016
Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec
A pair of impressive victories has revived the New York Rangers, who look to maintain their hold on second place in the Metropolitan Division when they visit the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night. The Rangers enter the weekend holding a four-point lead over the third-place Pittsburgh and a showdown looming with the Penguins on Sunday night.
After stumbling through a five-game stretch in which it went 1-2-2, New York regained its confidence with decisive wins over Eastern Conference contenders Florida and Boston. "We've got everything in the room," Rangers defenseman Kevin Klein said. "We've got the leadership. We've got the skill. We've got the goaltending to make a long stretch and we've got guys on the team that have won Stanley Cups and we've got guys that are really, really hungry and it's a great mix." New York has dropped three straight to Montreal, which outscored its Original Six rival 8-1 in a pair of victories earlier in the season.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, MSG-Plus (New York), TVA (Montreal)
ABOUT THE RANGERS (42-24-8): New York's power play produced only two goals in an 18-game span coming out of the Christmas break, but has turned things around with 14 man-advantage tallies over the past 20 contests. Defenseman Keith Yandle set up a pair of power-play goals in Wednesday's 5-2 win over Boston to move into a tie for third on the team with 42 points. “It gets the group going,” said Yandle, who has 17 power-play assists. “It’s something that we know: Late in the season, your specialty teams have to be good. Any way you can find ways to win, it’s big now.”
ABOUT THE CANADIENS (34-35-6): Star defenseman P.K. Subban (neck) will miss his eighth consecutive game and told reporters after Friday's practice that "the focus needs to be on the team, not on me." One player who has benefited from Subban's absence is rookie blue-liner Joel Hanley, who has collected four assists in his first three NHL goals, including two apiece in the last two. "He has great hockey sense and is very composed with the puck," Montreal coach Michel Therrien said. "He’s looked very comfortable for a player who just started out in the NHL."
OVERTIME
1. Rangers G Antti Raanta will take a 9-5-2 and 2.34 goals-against average into Saturday's matchup.
2. Canadiens rookie G Mike Condon, who has surrendered 14 goals in his last four appearances, will make his first start versus New York.
3. Rangers leading scorer Mats Zuccarello has tallied in back-to-back games but has only one goal in 13 contests versus Montreal.
Trends
Rangers are 3-12 in the last 15 meetings in Montreal.
Rangers are 1-4 in the last 5 meetings.
Canadiens are 27-13 in their last 40 vs. Metropolitan
http://www.covers.com/pageLoader/pageLoader.aspx?page=/data/nhl/matchups/g2_preview_8.html
