Stars at Rangers preview

STARS (16-13-1) at RANGERS (16-11-2)
7 p.m. ET: MSG, FS-SW, NHL-TV

The Rangers have won 10 of their past 11 home games. Goalie Ondrej Pavelec will make his first start at the Garden since Oct. 26, when he made 27 saves in a 5-2 win against the Arizona Coyotes. He made 41 saves in a 4-3 win at the Pittsburgh Penguins last Tuesday.
The Stars, who are starting a four-game Metropolitan Division road trip, are coming off a 5-3 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights at home Saturday. They have been outscored 13-5, including 5-0 on special teams, during the losing streak.
Kari Lehtonen is expected to start in goal. It'll be his third start and fourth appearance in the past five games. He has allowed six goals on 70 shots in his past three appearances.

Players to watch

Stars rookie defenseman Julius Honka will be back in the lineup after being a healthy scratch for the past three games.
Rangers forward Jesper Fast has scored in an NHL career-high three straight games. He has six goals in his past eight games.

They said it

"This league doesn't forgive teams that aren't playing well. So it just gets tougher, and I think that's a challenge for our team." -- Stars center Jason Spezza
"It's fun to play in [the Garden], but for me it's going to be another game. It doesn't matter for me if I start at home or away. The routines are the same, but it's really fun to play in MSG, that's for sure." -- Rangers goaltender Ondrej Pavelec

Stars projected lineup

Remi Elie -- Tyler Seguin -- Devin Shore
Mattias Janmark -- Jason Spezza -- Alexander Radulov
Jamie Benn -- Radek Faksa -- Tyler Pitlick
Gemel Smith -- Jason Dickinson -- Brett Ritchie
Esa Lindell -- John Klingberg
Dan Hamhuis -- Julius Honka
Greg Pateryn -- Stephen Johns
Kari Lehtonen
Ben Bishop
Scratched:Jamie Oleksiak
Injured:Marc Methot (knee), Martin Hanzal (hamstring),Antoine Roussel (elbow)

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Rangers projected lineup

Chris Kreider -- David Desharnais -- Pavel Buchnevich
Rick Nash -- Kevin Hayes -- Jesper Fast
Michael Grabner -- J.T. Miller -- Mats Zuccarello
Paul Carey -- Boo Nieves -- Jimmy Vesey
Ryan McDonagh -- Nick Holden
Brady Skjei -- Kevin Shattenkirk
Marc Staal -- Brendan Smith
Ondrej Pavelec
Henrik Lundqvist
Scratched:Steven Kampfer
Injured:Mika Zibanejad (concussion)

Status report

Dickinson was recalled from Texas of the American Hockey League on Sunday. … Zibanejad, who will miss his sixth straight game, participated in the full team morning skate Monday for the first time since being diagnosed with a concussion on Nov. 28. He hasn't been cleared for contact.

Stat pack

Lehtonen will tie former Calgary Flames goalie Miikka Kiprusoff for most games played by a Finnish-born goaltender in NHL history (623).