Canadiens: Taking On The Blueshirts

Tonight, the Montreal Canadiens will be taking on the New York Rangers for one last time this season. So far, it has been no easy task for Martin St-Louis' men to face the blueshirts, in October, New York triumphed 7-2 and won a tighter contest 4-3 in November.

Peter Laviolette's men have yet to face the new version of the Canadiens, the very confident one that doesn't panic when the opponent scores, the one with Patrik Laine and a lethal power play and the one backstopped by an ultra confident Jakub Dobes.

Related: Canadiens Caught Up By Maple Leafs

A lot of water has gone under the bridge since that October beating and the Rangers have plummeted in the standings since. While the Canadiens are currently 18th in the league and very much in the playoffs mix, the Rangers are 24th with 45 points in 44 games. In their last 10 games, the Blueshirts have a 5-3-2 record. On Thursday, they pulled out a convincing 5-3 win against the Utah Hockey Club and beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 1-0 in the shootout last night.

Still, the Rangers have won seven of the last ten games between the two sides and will be looking to use this game as a springboard to get back in the playoffs mix. The Canadiens most productive player against the Rangers is veteran blueliner David Savard who has 14 points in 38 games, followed by Brendan Gallagher who's on 13 points in 28 games. Cole Caufield has only got eight points against them, but he got them in just nine games and will be worth keeping an eye on. As for Laine, he's also got eight points, but in 13 games.

At the other end of the ice, the Rangers have got a few players who much love taking on the Canadiens, starting with Artemi Panarin who has 28 points in 22 games and Mika Zibanejad who has 27 points in 37 games. Habs fans favourite Chris Kreider wraps up the top three with 17 points in 31 games.

Related: Hutson Is Chasing History

In goal, Igor Shesterkin played last night and it's unlikely we'll see him in Montreal tonight, which is not a bad thing for the Canadiens since he's got a 5-1-0 record against the Habs with a 1.99 goals-against average and a .931 save percentage. As for backup Jonathan Quick, he's also got very solid numbers against the Habs with a 9-4-1 record, a 2.34 GAA and a .919 SP.

Meanwhile, the Canadiens' backup Dobes has yet to face the Rangers while Samuel Montembeault has a 4-3-1 record, a 4.04 GAA and a .880 SP. It makes a lot of sense to give Dobes another challenging game just like he loves them. Martin St-Louis said he was glad his team would be playing today straight after that 7-3 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Tonight, Lane Hutson will have an opportunity to improve a franchise record for the longest points streak for a rookie defenseman which now stands at seven after he achieved the feat for the second time this season. The game is set for 7:00 PM and will lead to a day off for the Canadiens.

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