Avalanche at Rangers
A pair of streaking teams look to put on show at Madison Square Garden as the New York Rangers host the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday. The Rangers are riding a three-game winning streak after making themselves at home with a pair of victories at Yankee Stadium before returning to MSG for a 4-1 triumph over the New York Islanders. The Rangers own an impressive 14-5-1 mark in their last 20 contests that has propelled them into second place in the congested Metropolitan Division.
Colorado posted its fourth win in a row and improved to 13-3-1 in its last 17 games with a 2-1 overtime victory at New Jersey on Monday. Ryan O'Reilly scored his team-leading 21st goal just 28 seconds into the extra session and rookie Nathan MacKinnon notched an assist on the tally to extend his point streak to five games. The top overall pick of the draft last June, MacKinnon has collected three goals and five assists during the stretch.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, Altitude (Colorado), MSG (New York)
ABOUT THE AVALANCHE (36-14-5): Semyon Varlamov received a brief rest with the return of veteran Jean-Sebastien Giguere on Monday. The Russian, however, is expected to make the start on Tuesday and vie for his fifth straight win and ninth in his last 10 contests. Matt Duchene has notched five assists during his four-game point streak - and his next goal will be the 100th of his career.
ABOUT THE RANGERS (30-23-3): Talks are expected to continue as captain Ryan Callahan and New York attempt to come to an agreement on a contract extension. "I'm going to circle back with the Rangers this week," Callahan's agent Steve Bartlett told ESPN New York on Monday. The team has granted permission to several teams to speak to Bartlett, but the agent admitted to the web site that little has come of it.
OVERTIME
1. Rangers G Henrik Lundqvist will make his fifth straight start on Tuesday and 12th in 14 games.
2. Colorado continues its four-game East Coast swing with a date in Philadelphia on Thursday before visiting the New York Islanders two days later.
3. The Rangers have failed on their last 10 power-play opportunities.