Rangers at Flames preview

RANGERS (28-29-13) at FLAMES (43-20-7)
9 p.m. ET; ESPN+, SNW, MSG 2, NHL.TV

The Flames, who have won back-to-back games after a four-game losing streak, trail the San Jose Sharks by one point. Calgary has played one fewer game.
The Rangers have lost the first two games of a road trip and are 1-3-5 in their past nine games. New York is 12 points behind the Columbus Blue Jackets for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.

Players to watch

Rangers rookie forward Brendan Lemieux has five points (two goals, three assists) in eight games since joining New York in a trade with the Winnipeg Jets on Feb. 25.
Flames forward Johnny Gaudreau had an NHL career-high six points (three goals, three assists) in a 9-4 win against the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday and has reached NHL career highs in goals (33) and points (90) this season.

They said it

"There's always more you can do to win hockey games. At the end of the day, no matter where you are in the standings, it's more fun coming to the rink after a win." -- Rangers forward Ryan Strome
"This is a real important game. We know where we are in the standings right now. You look at it. One point back of where we want to be. It's going to be a tough game. We've got to be ready to go." -- Flames forward Sean Monahan

Rangers projected lineup

Chris Kreider -- Mika Zibanejad -- Jesper Fast
Vladislav Namestnikov -- Ryan Strome -- Filip Chytil
Brendan Lemieux -- Brett Howden -- Pavel Buchnevich
Jimmy Vesey -- Lias Andersson -- Connor Brickley
Brady Skjei -- Tony DeAngelo
Brendan Smith -- Kevin Shattenkirk
Marc Staal -- Neal Pionk
Alexandar Georgiev
Henrik Lundqvist
Scratched:Boo Nieves, Fredrik Claesson
Injured:Libor Hajek (shoulder)

Flames projected lineup

Johnny Gaudreau -- Sean Monahan -- Elias Lindholm
Matthew Tkachuk -- Mikael Backlund -- Michael Frolik
Sam Bennett -- Mark Jankowski -- Austin Czarnik
Andrew Mangiapane -- Derek Ryan -- Garnet Hathaway
Mark Giordano -- TJ Brodie
Noah Hanifin -- Travis Hamonic
Oscar Fantenberg -- Rasmus Andersson
David Rittich
Mike Smith
Scratched:Alan Quine, Oliver Kylington, Dalton Prout, Michael Stone
Injured:James Neal (upper body)

Status report

Nieves will be scratched for the first time in five games. … Rittich will make his third straight start and fifth in the past six games. Smith missed practice Thursday because of illness but is expected to dress as the backup.

Stat pack

Lundqvist has made at least 30 saves in six of his past nine games. Lemieux has four points (one goal, three assists) in his past four games. … Tkachuk has five points (four goals, one assist) in his past two games. Monahan has nine points (two goals, seven assists) in his past eight games.