Ducks at Rangers preview

DUCKS (14-12-8) at RANGERS (18-12-3)
7 p.m. ET; MSG, PRIME, NHL.TV

Zibanejad practiced with linemates Pavel Buchnevich and Chris Kreider on Monday. He also was in his regular spot on the top power-play unit.
The Rangers won each end of a Friday-Saturday back-to-back; they defeated the Los Angeles Kings 4-2 at home and won against the Boston Bruins 3-2 in overtime at TD Garden. New York, which was 5-3-1 without Zibanejad, is 9-3-1 in its past 13 games.
The Ducks have failed to hold three two-goal leads in their past two games and lost each (0-1-1), including 5-3 at the New Jersey Devils on Monday, when Anaheim had leads of 2-0 and 3-1. The Ducks are 4-5-5 in their past 14 games.

Players to watch

Ducks center Adam Henrique has eight points (four goals, four assists) in nine games since being acquired in a trade with the Devils on Nov. 30.
Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh has assists in three consecutive games.

They said it

"If we have more energy and play better than we did in the last two periods [Monday], that is going to be our goal. If we can focus on that and play for 60 minutes, we think we can be a pretty effective hockey club." -- Ducks coach Randy Carlyle
"I think this is the right time [to return]. We took it step by step. It was another step to practice and practice on my line. So far so good. I'm staying positive. … Excited to get back. You always have more jump to your game when you get back. It's obviously tough to be out and tough to watch, but always fun to come back." -- Rangers center Mika Zibanejad

Ducks projected lineup

Kevin Roy
-- Ryan Getzlaf -- Jakob Silfverberg
Andrew Cogliano -- Adam Henrique -- Rickard Rakell
Nick Ritchie -- Antoine Vermette -- Ondrej Kase
Chris Wagner -- Derek Grant -- Logan Shaw
Hampus Lindholm -- Josh Manson
Cam Fowler --
Andy Welinski
Kevin Bieksa -- Brandon Montour
John Gibson
Ryan Miller
Scratched:Korbinian Holzer, Dennis Rasmussen, Francois Beauchemin
Injured: Corey Perry (lower body), Ryan Kesler](https://www.nhl.com/player/ryan-kesler-8470616) (hip)

Rangers projected lineup

Chris Kreider -- Mika Zibanejad -- Pavel Buchnevich
Rick Nash -- J.T. Miller -- Mats Zuccarello
Michael Grabner -- Kevin Hayes -- Jesper Fast
Paul Carey -- David Desharnais -- Jimmy Vesey
Ryan McDonagh -- Nick Holden
Brady Skjei -- Kevin Shattenkirk
Marc Staal -- Brendan Smith
Henrik Lundqvist
Ondrej Pavelec
Scratched: Steven Kampfer, Boo Nieves
Injured: None

Status report

Nieves will be scratched to make room for Zibanejad. Desharnais, who was skating between Kreider and Buchnevich, will take Nieves' spot between Carey and Vesey.

Stat pack

The Rangers have won three straight and six of their past seven games against the Ducks at the Garden dating to Jan. 20, 2009. … Anaheim is 3-0-3 in the second game of back-to-back sets this season.