The Montreal Canadiens will try to win a seventh game in a row when they take on the New York Rangers on Thursday night.
After playing a lot of meaningful games against teams involved in either the playoff race or a race to make the top of the standings, the Montreal Canadiens will take on the already eliminated New York Rangers on Thursday night. The Blueshirts have had a terrible season by all accounts, tasting victory only 31 times, and only 12 times at Madison Square Garden. Mike Sullivan’s men have a 4-5-1 record in their last 10 games, but they are on a three-game winning streak.
As for the Canadiens, they got in the Big Apple with a 7-3-0 record in their last 10 games and have a six-game winning streak. Still, the host has won both duels against the two teams this season, the first by a score of 4-3 in October at the Bell Centre, and the second in overtime, 5-4 at MSG in December. Another loss would therefore mean a season sweep by the league's 29th-place team. While Montreal has all but qualified for the postseason now, it could still win the Atlantic Division championship and therefore needs all the points it can get. A win would therefore mean much more to Montreal than it would to New York.
There’s no word yet on who will man the net for either team, but neither played on Wednesday, and Igor Shesterkin was in the net on Tuesday night when the Rangers beat the New Jersey Devils 4-1. The number one goaltender even dropped the mitts to fight opposing goaltender Jacob Markstrom. Clearly, there’s some frustration there. The goaltending ace is nearly perfect against Montreal with a 6-1-0 record, a 2.26 goals-against average, and a .916 SV. Meanwhile, 23-year-old backup Dylan Garland has never faced the Sainte-Flanelle. He was New York’s fourth-round pick at the 2020 draft and only has two NHL games to his name, but they are both wins. The youngster has a 1.44 GAA and a .954 SV% in those two games. As for regular backup Jonathan Quick, he is still day-to-day with an upper-body injury and has a 10-4-2 record against the Tricolore, with a 2.54 GAA, a .912 SV, and two shutouts.
It wouldn’t be surprising if Martin St-Louis opted to go for Jakub Dobes once again. The Czech netminder has been red-hot of late, and he has won his only game against the Rangers. He has only a 3.79 GAA and a .857 SV against the Blueshirts. As for Jacob Fowler, he lost his only game against the Rangers in overtime and has a 4.77 GAA and an .828 SV%. The youngster had a good game in his last start, a 4-1 win over the Nashville Predators, but given Dobes’ recent form, it wouldn’t be an issue if he didn’t play on Thursday, since he will certainly see some action in the weekend’s back-to-back against the Devils.
Up front, Phillip Danault is the Canadiens’ most productive forward against the Rangers with 19 points in 22 games, followed by Brendan Gallagher with 16 points in 31 games. Noah Dobson and Nick Suzuki share third place with 14 points in 25 games for the former and 17 games for the latter. The Canadiens’ captain now has 92 points in 74 games, and the chase to the century mark is on with just eight games left. He has three points against the Rangers this season. As for Cole Caufield, he has 11 points in 12 games against the New Yorkers, including five goals, but he has yet to find the back of the net against them this season. The sniper now has 47 goals on the season and will no doubt be hoping to add to his tally in the tilt. It’s also worth noting that Dobson has 46 points on the season, and that, should he reach the 50-mark, the Habs would have six 50-point players on the season.
As for the Rangers, J.T. Miller and Mika Zibanejad are their most productive players against the Canadiens, with 31 points in 38 games for the former and 40 for the latter. Defenseman Adam Fox comes in third place with 19 points in just 15 games. Both Miller and Zibanejad have three points against the Tricolore this season.
The game is set for 7:00 PM in New York, and you can catch it on MSG, TSN2, and RDS.
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