Avalanche at Rangers
Growing pains usually hurt - especially for veterans who might be impatient to win - and the New York Rangers are enduring them as they host the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday. The Rangers, who started the rebuilding process by unloading big names such as Rick Nash, Ryan McDonagh and J.T. Miller at the trade deadline last season, lost 2-1 to Edmonton on Saturday for their fourth setback in five games to start a campaign which could be a long one in the Big Apple.
“You don’t want to start a season 1-4. Rather be 5-0,'' New York's Kevin Hayes told the New York Post. "But we have to stick together. We can’t start pointing fingers. I think last year, when things went bad, it was every man for himself. Now, we have to stick together.” Goaltender Henrik Lundqvist's 1-3-0 record is a reflection of the Rangers' slow start but his 2.03 goals-against average and .938 save percentage are indications that the 36-year-old future Hall of Famer has plenty left to help his team return to respectability. Colorado is coming off a 3-2 overtime loss to Calgary in its only home contest during a seven-game stretch as it begins a four-game road trip. Nathan MacKinnon, the Hart Trophy runner-up in 2018, has scored in every contest - the five-game streak is the longest of his career - and owns six of the Avalanche's 19 goals this season.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, Altitude (Colorado), MSG (New York)
ABOUT THE AVALANCHE (3-1-1): Mikko Rantanen, MacKinnon's linemate, has at least one point in each game and leads the club with eight (seven assists). J.T. Compher is off to a fast start with three goals after scoring 13 in 2017-18 - his first full season - while Colin Wilson also has three, including a team-most two on the power play. Semyon Varlamov (3-0-1, 1.75, .946) is expected to start in goal and is 6-3-0, 3.07, .901 in nine games versus New York.
ABOUT THE RANGERS (1-4-0): Brett Howden, the 27th overall pick in the 2016 draft by Tampa Bay who was acquired in the McDonagh trade, has two goals and an assist in his first five NHL games while centering a line that includes Pavel Buchnevich (two goals, three points) and Mats Zuccarello (three assists). “He’s got a quick mind, a quick set of hands and quick feet, and they all work together,” first-year coach David Quinn told the New York Post about Howden. “It’s a pretty good recipe for success.” Defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk, New York's highest-paid skater, returned to the lineup Saturday after he was a healthy scratch in Thursday's 3-2 overtime victory over San Jose and is minus-4 for the season.
OVERTIME
1. Colorado has scored at least one power-play goal in four of five games and is 5-for-18 overall, while its penalty killers are off to a 22-for-23 start.
2. MacKinnon, who has scored on 23.1 percent of his shots, tied the franchise record set in 1992-93 by Quebec's Mats Sundin for most consecutive games with a goal to start a season.
3. The Avalanche have won three of their last four games at Madison Square Garden, including 4-2 last season behind 37 saves by Varlamov.