Rangers at Canadiens
The New York Rangers have secured home-ice advantage for the first round of the playoffs. The Montreal Canadiens can give themselves a chance for the same opportunity should they record at least one point in Saturday's season finale against the visiting Rangers. Tampa Bay skated to a 3-2 triumph over Columbus on Friday to move one point ahead of Montreal in the race for second place in the Atlantic Division.
"You want home ice, you want to go into the playoffs feeling good about your game - and we've got Saturday night to do that," Canadiens captain Brian Gionta said. Should Montreal prevail on Saturday, the Lightning would need to defeat Washington in their final contest of the regular season on Sunday in order to gain home-ice advantage. While the stakes are high for the Canadiens, New York has nothing on the table as it awaits either Philadelphia or Columbus in the playoffs.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, CBC, RDS (Montreal), MSG (New York)
ABOUT THE RANGERS (45-31-5): Cam Talbot is expected to get the start as Henrik Lundqvist rests up for the postseason. The first-year goaltender registered his initial NHL shutout by stopping 22 shots in a 1-0 victory over the Canadiens on Nov. 16. While that effort was impressive, New York's performance on Thursday in a 2-1 victory over reeling Buffalo did not draw rave reviews.
ABOUT THE CANADIENS (45-28-8): Montreal didn't look much like a playoff team as it mustered only 19 shots en route to a 2-0 setback against the New York Islanders on Thursday. While the Canadiens offered little to their fans on that night, they routinely turn the Bell Centre into a house of horrors when the Rangers come to visit. Montreal owns a gaudy 10-1-1 mark in the last 12 such contests with New York - with five of the last eight meetings resulting in a shutout for the home team.
OVERTIME
1. Rangers LW Benoit Pouliot scored on Thursday to extend his career-high point streak to seven games. He has collected three goals and four assists during the run.
2. Montreal has failed to score on 20 power-play opportunities over the last seven contests.
3. Rangers RW Mats Zuccarello notched an assist versus the Sabres to increase his point streak to six games. The Norwegian has netted four tallies and set up five others during his stretch.