RANGERS VS CANADIENS GAME DAY PREVIEW 10/28

RANGERS FACE HABS IN MONTREAL

New York Rangers (3-6-2) at Montreal Canadiens (2-7-1)

TONIGHT 7:00 PM, TV: MSG, NHLN Radio: WEPN 98.7

Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec CA

The second of three meetings between the Rangers and Canadiens takes place tonight in Montreal. In the first meeting at Madison Square Garden the Rangers shut out the Habs 2-0 on goals by Brady Skjei and Mika Zibanejad backed by a solid performance and the shutout win for Henrik Lundqvist.

Henrik Lundqvist will not get the start for New York though as Alain Vigneault will look to Ondrej Pavelec to continue solid goaltending after picking up his first victory of the season in the 5-2 win over the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday night.

The Rangers lineup will remain the same for tonight’s contest hoping that the chemistry between Michael Grabner, Boo Nieves and Pavel Buchnevich which combined for 4 goals and a total of 7 points against Arizona will carry over.

The Canadiens have had the same troubles out of the starting gate as the Rangers going 2-7-1 for the opening month of the season. Publicized internal problems seem to plague the team as rumors of problems with and possibly shopping around forward Alex Galchenyuk continue to disrupt the team’s dynamic along with  a rough start for star goalie Carey Price (2-6-0).

The Rangers led by Mika Zibanejad (6 goals) and Mats Zuccarello (6 assists, 8 points) face the Canadiens point leaders Shea Weber (3 goals) and Jonathan Drouin (5 assists, 7 points).

Rangers’ Ondrej Pavelec (1-2-0, 3.08 GAA, .889 SV%) will get the start against Canadiens’ Carey Price (2-6-0, 3.60 GAA, .887 SV%).

Rangers projected lineup vs Montreal

Forwards:
Rick Nash -- Mika Zibanejad -- J.T. Miller
Jimmy Vesey -- Kevin Hayes -- Jesper Fast
Chris Kreider -- David Desharnais -- Mats Zuccarello
Michael Grabner -- Boo Nieves -- Pavel Buchnevich

Defense Pairs:
Ryan McDonagh -- Brendan Smith
Marc Staal -- Kevin Shattenkirk
Brady Skjei -- Nick Holden

Starter:
Ondrej Pavelec

Backup:
Henrik Lundqvist

Scratched: Steven Kampfer, Paul Carey

Injured: None