Rangers at Coyotes preview

RANGERS (21-14-5) at COYOTES (10-27-5)
8 p.m. ET; FS-A, MSG, NHL.TV

The Rangers traded Raanta and center Derek Stepan to the Coyotes on June 23, 2017, for defenseman Anthony DeAngelo and the No. 7 pick in the 2017 NHL Draft (Lias Andersson). Raanta (lower-body injury) did not play against the Rangers in New York in a 5-2 loss on Oct. 26.
The Rangers have won their past eight games against the Coyotes; their last loss was on Oct. 3, 2013 (4-1). New York is 5-2-2 in its past nine games.
Arizona is 3-3-0 in its past six games after a seven-game losing streak (0-6-1).

Players to watch

Rangers forward Kevin Hayes has eight points (three goals, five assists) in seven games against the Coyotes.
Stepan has three assists during a three-game point streak. He leads the Coyotes with 18 points (six goals, 12 assists) in 19 home games.

They said it

"I have to stick to my game. I can't get into a skill game. I've got to make sure I'm getting onto the forecheck and getting the puck back to those two."-- J.T. Miller to the Rangers website on playing on the top line with Mika Zibanejad and Pavel Buchnevich
"We have one more game. This is a maturity thing for me right now to see where our team is on Saturday night. I want to see us come out and play a solid game."-- Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet on his team's last game before a five-day break

Rangers projected lineup

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

Coyotes projected lineup

Brendan Perlini -- Derek Stepan -- Tobias Rieder
Clayton Keller -- Max Domi -- Christian Fischer
Jordan Martinook -- Christian Dvorak -- Josh Archibald
Nick Cousins -- Brad Richardson -- Anthony Duclair
Oliver Ekman-Larsson -- Jason Demers
Jakob Chychrun -- Alex Goligoski
Kevin Connauton -- Luke Schenn
Antti Raanta
Scott Wedgewood
Scratched:Freddie Hamilton
Injured:Niklas Hjalmarsson (upper body)
Suspended:Zac Rinaldo

Status report

Kreider will have surgery to have his rib resected and is out indefinitely. … Richardson (upper body) practiced with the Coyotes on Friday. Tocchet said he will be a game-time decision. … Hjalmarsson practiced Friday but won't return to the lineup until after their five-day break.

Stat pack

Lundqvist is 4-2-2 with 18 goals against in his past eight starts and is one win from passing Tony Esposito (423) for sole possession of eighth place on the NHL's all-time list. … Keller has nine points (three goals, six assists) in his past nine games and has points in eight of those nine games. … Goligoski has four points (one goal, three assists) during a four-game point streak.