Rangers at Canadiens preview

RANGERS (3-6-2) at CANADIENS (2-7-1)
7 p.m. ET; NHLN, SN1, CITY, TVA Sports, MSG, NHL.TV

Pavelec, 2-0-0 with a 1.92 goals-against-average and a .942 save percentage in his past three games against Montreal, made 27 saves in New York's 5-2 win against the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday. The Rangers have won two of their past three games following a 1-5-2 start that included a 2-0 win against the Canadiens in New York on Oct. 8.
Montreal is off to its worst start in 76 years. The Canadiens' five points are their fewest through 10 games since 1941-42, when they went 1-8 with one tie on their way to a 1-10-1 start.

Players to watch

Rangers rookie center
Boo Nieves
clicked with linemates Michael Grabner and Pavel Buchnevich in his season debut Thursday. Nieves had three assists and the line combined for seven points against Arizona.
Canadiens goaltender Carey Price is 10-1-1 with a 1.30 GAA, .958 save percentage and six shutouts in 13 career regular-season home games against the Rangers. He's 2-6-1 with a 3.60 GAA and .887 save percentage in nine starts this season.

They said it

"We've got to go out there and we've got to execute. We have to compete and we've got to play a good solid defensive game in front of our goaltender and make sure that we get quality opportunities. At the end of the night, it's two points, and that's what we're going to Montreal to try and get." -- Rangers coach Alain Vigneault
"If we weren't getting any chances, any looks, we would be really frustrated trying to figure out how to get looks. But we are getting chances, we are getting looks, and it's going to find the back of the net soon." -- Canadiens center Jonathan Drouin

Rangers projected lineup

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

Canadiens projected lineup

Artturi Lehkonen -- Jonathan Drouin -- Paul Byron
Max Pacioretty -- Phillip Danault -- Andrew Shaw
Charles Hudon -- Tomas Plekanec -- Brendan Gallagher
Alex Galchenyuk --
Michael McCarron
-- Torrey Mitchell
Victor Mete -- Shea Weber
Brandon Davidson -- Jeff Petry
Karl Alzner -- Jordie Benn
Carey Price
Al Montoya
Scratched: Jacob de la Rose, Joe Morrow
Injured: Ales Hemsky (concussion-like symptoms), David Schlemko (hand), Nikita Scherbak (lower body)

Status report

The Rangers held an optional morning skate Saturday. … Mitchell likely will replace Scherbak.

Stat pack

Lundqvist is tied with Glenn Hall for ninth place on the NHL's all-time wins list with 407. ... Buchnevich has three points (two goals, one assist) in his past two games, including his first NHL multigoal game Thursday. ... Gallagher has three points (two goals, one assist) in his past three games.