The Rangers defeated the Canadiens on November 6 in a 5-3 comeback victory after they trailed, 3-1, in the second period. The Canadiens are 14-2-0 (.875) against the Rangers at home since 2009-10, their best home record against any Eastern Conference opponent in that span.
New York was shutout for the second time in four games on Thursday, losing 3-0 at Ottawa. The Rangers are 3-7-2 (.333) on the road compared to 10-4-0 (.714) at home -- that .381 difference ranks as second highest in the NHL (Devils, .565; home better).
The Canadiens are on a five-game losing streak, their sixth separate losing streak of at least five games since last season, most by any team. They sit in fifth place in the Atlantic Division after finishing in sixth last season -- they haven't finished fifth place or lower in back-to-back seasons since 1940-42.
Mika Zibanejad was held without a shot against Ottawa for the first time this season. Among skaters with at least eight goals this season, Zibanejad's 9.2 shooting percentage ranks third worst.
Max Domi has failed to record a point in three consecutive games following an 11-game point streak, the longest of his career. He has an 8.6 shooting percentage on the road compared to 36.4 percent at home this season -- that +27.6 difference is the highest in the NHL (road better).
The Canadiens are third in the NHL in most hits this season with 657 and the Rangers rank fifth at 652. The Rangers have had at least 40 hits in two of their last three games -- no team has more than three such games all season.
Alexandar Georgiev, the first Bulgarian-born player in the NHL, will get the start in goal for the Rangers. The 22-year-old is 4-3-0 this season and is coming off a 29-save shutout in his last start against the New York Islanders on Nov. 21.
The Canadiens (11-9-5) have their own issues. They have lost five in a row (0-3-2), their longest losing streak of the season, though they might have deserved better. They are coming off a 2-1 loss at home to the Carolina Hurricanes in which they had 93 shot attempts.
"We were able to have two good practices yesterday and today and the chemistry is still good," Canadiens forward Phillip Danault told the team's website. "We're not going to change our attitude or our system because we lost a game. We haven't had any bad games. We haven't played very badly. We for sure have some things to work on, but we've done some good things, too."
"We didn't play badly against the Hurricanes," Canadiens forward Jonathan Drouin told montrealcanadiens.com. "It's true we've lost five straight games, but we've always had a chance to win. It's 82 games. We have to continue working and not giving up."
Canadiens captain Shea Weber will play his second game of the season after offseason knee and ankle surgery. He had 13 shot attempts in his season debut against the Hurricanes.
"A good two days of practice, for sure. I'd probably just rather play a bunch of games, get back into games," Weber told montrealcanadiens.com. "It's good to practice and get things going that way, but I've had time to practice before and it wasn't the same as a game. The game situations, you have to get in those and live those to get it back."