Montreal plays New York, aims to end home skid
New York Rangers (34-24-4, seventh in the Metropolitan Division) vs. Montreal Canadiens (29-27-9, fifth in the Atlantic Division)
Montreal; Thursday, 7 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Montreal plays New York looking to break its three-game home skid.
The Canadiens are 17-18-7 in conference games. Montreal leads the league shooting 34.2 shots per game while averaging 3.0 goals.
The Rangers are 22-14-2 in conference matchups. New York ranks third in the league shooting 10.7% and averaging 3.3 goals on 31.1 shots per game.
Montreal knocked off New York 2-1 in the last meeting between these teams on Dec. 6.
TOP PERFORMERS: Tomas Tatar has recorded 56 total points while scoring 21 goals and adding 35 assists for the Canadiens. Nicholas Suzuki has collected four assists over the last 10 games for Montreal.
Artemi Panarin leads the Rangers with 53 total assists and has recorded 85 points. Mika Zibanejad has collected eight goals and eight assists over the last 10 games for New York.
LAST 10 GAMES: Rangers: 8-2-0, averaging 3.5 goals, 5.8 assists, 3.3 penalties and 6.9 penalty minutes while allowing 2.1 goals per game with a .943 save percentage.
Canadiens: 4-4-2, averaging 2.5 goals, 3.6 assists, 3.4 penalties and 7.9 penalty minutes while giving up 2.7 goals per game with a .911 save percentage.
INJURIES: Canadiens: None listed.
Rangers: Igor Shesterkin: out (rib), Pavel Buchnevich: out (undisclosed).
