Canadiens at Rangers
The New York Rangers and Henrik Lundqvist host the Montreal Canadiens and Carey Price on Wednesday in a marquee matchup featuring the Eastern Conference division leaders and their star goaltenders. Lundqvist boasts the NHL's top goals-against average (1.74) and save percentage (.946) while sharing the league lead in wins (12) with Washington's Braden Holtby, and is a strong candidate to pull off the same rare feat that Price accomplished in 2014-15.
Price is coming off a campaign in which he became the fourth goaltender in history to win the Hart and Vezina trophies in the same season and his numbers (9-2-0, 2.10, .933) aren't too far behind Lundqvist's in 2015-16. Price has won two consecutive starts - both over the New York Islanders with the latest Sunday's 4-2 decision in Montreal - since missing nine games with a groin injury. Lundqvist (12-3-2), meanwhile, is coming off his second shutout of the season with a 31-save performance in Monday's 3-0 victory over Nashville that was New York's 11th in its last 12 games. "Look around the league and you see guys putting up huge offensive numbers, playing great hockey. It's no different (than) what (Lundqvist) is doing for our team," the Rangers' Derek Stepan told reporters after scoring for the second time in four games. "We've played some good hockey (and) at times we had (Lundqvist) play some good hockey for us."
TV: 7 p.m. ET, Sportsnet East, Sportsnet Ontario, RDS (Montreal), MSG 2 (New York)
ABOUT THE CANADIENS (16-4-2): Montreal will be without nine-goal scorer Brendan Gallagher, who fractured two fingers while blocking a shot Sunday and will be out indefinitely. Captain Max Pacioretty (team-best 11 goals) and center Tomas Plekanec share the team lead with 20 points and will have a new right wing Wednesday - perhaps Dale Weise (nine goals). The Canadiens called up Bud Holloway and the 27-year-old right wing is expected to make his NHL debut after recording five goals and 20 points with St. John's of the American Hockey League in his eighth professional season.
ABOUT THE RANGERS (16-3-2): Left wing Rich Nash, who scored a team-best 42 goals last season, put his slow start to 2015-16 behind him with four goals in his last two games after scoring Monday, bringing his season total to six. As the top line of Nash, Mats Zuccarello (team bests of 10 goals, 11 assists) and Derick Brassard (six goals, 14 points) remains intact, coach Alain Vigneault shook up his bottom three lines Monday, telling reporters he is "just trying to create a different feel ... trying to find combinations." One of those moves was shifting Kevin Hayes to a line with left wing Chris Kreider centered by Stepan and the right wing responded with a power-play goal.
OVERTIME
1. Through Monday's games, Montreal was second in the NHL in penalty killing and New York third.
2. Price also has two shutouts this season, the first a 3-0 victory over the Rangers on Oct. 15
3. Buffalo's Dominik Hasek (1997-98, 1998-99), and Montreal's Jacques Plante (1961-62), Jose Theodore (2001-02) and Price are the only goaltenders to pull off the Hart-Vezina double.