Rangers at Avalanche preview

RANGERS (17-15-7) at AVALANCHE (19-14-8)
9 p.m. ET; ALT, MSG 2, NHL.TV

The Avalanche, on a season-long six-game losing streak (0-4-2), have scored two goals or fewer in six of their past eight games. Goalie Philipp Grubauer will start; he's 8-4-3 with a 3.26 goals-against average and .899 save percentage in 18 games (16 starts) this season.
Goalie Alexandar Georgiev is expected to start for the Rangers, 4-5-5 in their past 14 games. Georgiev, who allowed one goal on seven shots in relief of Henrik Lundqvist in the Rangers' 7-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday, is 5-5-0 with a 3.22 GAA and .898 save percentage in 11 games (nine starts) this season.

Players to watch

Rangers center Kevin Hayes has 16 points (five goals, 11 assists) in his past 11 games.
Avalanche forward Mikko Rantanen has 33 points (10 goals, 23 assists) in his past 22 games, with at least one point in 18 of them.

They said it

"It's an important time. We know the importance of the game. It's going to be fun to get on the road." -- Rangers center Mika Zibanejad
"We're playing losing hockey at the start of every game and it's deflating. We regroup after the second [period] and usually come out strong, but we can't wait until we're losing to start playing hard." -- Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon

Rangers projected lineup

Chris Kreider -- Mika Zibanejad -- Jesper Fast
Vladislav Namestnikov -- Kevin Hayes -- Mats Zuccarello
Boo Nieves -- Brett Howden -- Pavel Buchnevich
Filip Chytil - Ryan Strome -- Cody McLeod
Marc Staal -- Neal Pionk
Brady Skjei -- Adam McQuaid
Fredrik Claesson -- Kevin Shattenkirk
Alexandar Georgiev
Henrik Lundqvist
Scratched: Tony DeAngelo, Brendan Smith, Jimmy Vesey
Injured: None

Avalanche projected lineup

Gabriel Landeskog -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Mikko Rantanen
Tyson Jost -- Alex Kerfoot -- J.T. Compher
Matt Nieto -- Carl Soderberg -- Matt Calvert
Sven Andrighetto - Sheldon Dries -- Logan O'Connor
Samuel Girard -- Erik Johnson
Ian Cole -- Tyson Barrie
Ryan Graves -- Patrik Nemeth
Philipp Grubauer
Pavel Francouz
Scratched: Gabriel Bourque
Injured:Mark Barberio (upper body), Vladislav Kamenev (shoulder), Semyon Varlamov (lower body), Colin Wilson (upper body), Nikita Zadorov (lower body)

Status report

The Rangers held an optional morning skate … Barberio and Wilson skated in red non-contact jerseys; there is no timeline for each player's return.

Stat pack

Kreider has eight points (five goals, three assists) in his past six games … Barrie needs one point to pass John-Michael Liles (275) for the most points by a defenseman in Avalanche history. … MacKinnon has 17 points (five goals, 12 assists) in his past 13 games. … Landeskog has 17 points (nine goals, eight assists) in his past 15 games.