At the Rink: Sabres at Rangers

NEW YORK -- Buffalo Sabres forward Matt Moulson has done just about everything in his power this season to make rookie center Jack Eichel feel comfortable, from guiding him on the ice to putting a roof over his head off it.

Sabres coach Dan Bylsma feels it's time for Eichel to return the favor to Moulson, which is the reason why he's putting the two of them on the same line with Zemgus Girgensons against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Monday (7:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN).

Moulson, who is letting Eichel live in his house this season, has no points in his previous 18 games and no goals in his previous 35. Girgensons returns to the lineup after missing the past four games with an upper-body injury.

"[Moulson] played with Jack earlier in the year and I think offered some support to Jack and been there for Jack on that line," Bylsma said. "Now, it's time for maybe Jack to be there for Matt, a guy he is obviously very familiar with and has spent a lot of time with. I think it may be time for Jack to pull Matt out of a long drought."

Eichel wants nothing more than to help his landlord finally deliver some production to a team that desperately needs him to deliver if he's going to be in a top-six forward role.

The Sabres are 29th in the NHL in goals per game (2.23). They're coming off a 3-0 loss against the Detroit Red Wings on Friday, which came on the heels of a 2-1 loss against the Colorado Avalanche last Wednesday.

"Yeah I want to help him, of course," Eichel said of Moulson. "I mean, the guy lets me live at his house and does everything for me. Of course I want to help him. I'd like to take a slap shot off of his [butt] or something, but I can't do that."

Girgensons might also be able to help Moulson get going because of the work he puts in along the walls to hunt pucks down and dig them out. He feels he can do that at 100 percent capacity now after missing the past four games.

"I feel good, back to normal," Girgensons said. "I felt good out there [Sunday] on the ice and today in pregame [skate], so I look forward to being on the ice tonight."

Bylsma hasn't used the Moulson-Eichel-Girgensons line since the preseason. They played one game together and accounted for two goals.

"I think it can be a mixture of everything," Girgensons said. "I can bring that hard work and create space for those guys. Moulson is great with the puck, a good touch around the net. [Eichel] is just a guy that makes it all happen. I look forward to playing with all of them."

The hope in New York is they'll be up against an angry opponent because of how the Rangers played in a 3-0 loss against the Ottawa Senators on Sunday and how their coach, Alain Vigneault, responded to their performance in his postgame press conference.

"Nobody likes to lose, but I really thought we were building momentum," Vigneault told reporters in Ottawa. "We had played a real strong game in Carolina, on the road. I thought we were getting somewhere, and then we come up with this [Sunday]."

Vigneault walked away from his press conference by saying, "Thanks, I'm outta here."

Bylsma said he expects the Rangers to try to respond to the criticism with their performance against Buffalo.

"You are feeling a bit that they are going to come out with a response to that criticism for the way they played," Bylsma said. "They're playing back-to-back games as well and we have to make that a factor in the game with how we play. You have to play at your tempo, your pace, bring it to them and force that to be an issue in the game."

Here are the projected lineups:

SABRES

Evander Kane - Ryan O'Reilly - Jamie McGinn

Zemgus Girgensons - Jack Eichel - Matt Moulson

Marcus Foligno - Johan Larsson - Brian Gionta

Cal O'Reilly - Tim Schaller - David Legwand

Zach Bogosian - Rasmus Ristolainen

Jake McCabe - Cody Franson

Mark Pysyk - Mike Weber

Chad Johnson

Robin Lehner

Injured: Sam Reinhart (upper body), Nicolas Deslauriers (lower body), Tyler Ennis (upper body), Josh Gorges (upper body)

Scratched: Carlo Colaiacovo, Philip Varone

RANGERS

Mats Zuccarello - Derick Brassard - Jesper Fast

Chris Kreider - Derek Stepan - J.T. Miller

Oscar Lindberg - Kevin Hayes - Viktor Stalberg

Tanner Glass - Dominic Moore - Daniel Paille

Ryan McDonagh - Dan Girardi

Marc Staal - Kevin Klein

Keith Yandle - Dylan McIlrath

Henrik Lundqvist

Antti Raanta

Injured: Rick Nash (lower-body bone bruise)

Scratched: Dan Boyle

Status report: Nash will miss his second straight game with an injury sustained in the third period of New York's game Friday against the Carolina Hurricanes. "He had an MRI done this morning and it showed what we thought, it's a bone bruise," Vigneault said. "It's painful, but he should be fine when we come back from the break." McIlrath will play in place of Boyle, who is a healthy scratch. "Dan looked a little tired in the last couple of games," Vigneault said. "He didn't play real well, so I just thought it's time for Dylan to come in."

Who's hot: Lundqvist has allowed two goals or fewer in his past six starts for a 4-2-0 record with a 1.63 goals-against average and .945 save percentage.

Follow Dan Rosen on Twitter at: @drosennhl