Preview: Rangers Face Canadiens in Road Trip Finale

RANGERS at CANADIENS, 7 p.m.MSG2, 1050 AM
MONTREAL - Alexandar Georgiev's career is all before him, and he is bound to make more memories in many more hockey rinks down the road. But the Bell Centre will always be a special place for him.
It's where the 22-year-old goaltender made his National Hockey League debut only nine months ago, on Feb. 22, 2018. And in his first trip back, it's where the Georgiev will get the call in nets for the Rangers on Saturday night as the Blueshirts close out their two-game road trip against the Montreal Canadiens.
"That brings back good memories," Georgiev said after the Rangers practiced there on Friday. "It's as good of a building as we can find in Canada."
His memories of Bell Centre aren't just that he got in a game, either: He played very well in his first NHL game, to the tune of 38 saves - the most any Ranger has ever made in his NHL debut - even though he wound up the hard-luck loser in a 3-1 loss that included a Montreal empty-net goal.

"I remember a couple good saves, and a couple good goals they scored," Georgiev said. "But also before the game, coming out there to check out the banners. Pretty amazing feeling to play in that building."
Georgiev's focus now turns to Saturday night, the start of a back-to-back set for the Rangers. The rookie is 4-1 with a 2.33 goals-against average and a .926 save percentage over his last five starts.

"We want to have both guys ready to go," David Quinn said Friday. "Obviously Hank's our guy, but Georgie is a guy that we trust and we want to give him ample opportunity to continue to grow."
Quinn throughout the season has expressed the trust his team has in Georgiev, in no bigger way than in turning to his rookie goaltender for six starts this season. The seventh will come in an important game for the Rangers, who have been among the winningest teams on home ice this season but have struggled for traction on the road.
"There wasn't a lot of good that happened" in the Rangers' 3-0 loss in Ottawa on Thursday night, in the coach's words, which was the Rangers' second straight shutout loss on the road and third straight road loss overall.
"I can't honestly pinpoint what it is. I feel like haven't played our game long enough and hard enough on the road," said Mika Zibanejad. "I wish I had the answer, and if we did we wouldn't look like this, obviously. We've just got to find a way to be as urgent as we are at home. We'll find a way here."
"It's important - doesn't matter where you play, what the circumstance is - you have to focus on the details," said Lundqvist, who will serve as Georgiev's backup on Saturday night and take Sunday's start against Winnipeg on Vic Hadfield Night at the Garden. "The details have helped us win a lot of games, especially at home. We need to focus on that on the road. (The Canadiens) are a pretty good home team, we know that, so it's even more important that you really focus on the little things that we need to do right here. When we do that, when we pay attention to puck management, shift length, just playing hard, we have some success."

The Rangers will get a reinforcement before gametime, with Vinni Lettieri rejoining the team from Hartford to round out the forward corps. The Rangers left New York on this trip carrying 11 healthy forwards and seven defensemen, which nudged Quinn into beginning Thursday's game with Brendan Smith playing left wing on the fourth line.
The team had those same 18 skaters in practice on Friday at the Bell Centre, with Tony DeAngelo serving as a fill-in right wing to make it 12 and six for the on-ice session.
Saturday night's match will be the middle game of a five-game homestand for the Canadiens, who have lost the first two in regulation as part of a five-game losing streak (0-3-2). The Habs have been idle since Tuesday's loss to Carolina, in which defenseman Shea Weber made his season debut - and his debut as Montreal's captain - after missing his team's first 24 games following June surgery on a torn meniscus.
"It's true we've lost five straight games, but we've always had a chance to win," Habs winger Jonathan Drouin said Friday.
It will be the Rangers' and Canadiens' second meeting this season - the Rangers scored four unanswered goals for a 5-3 win on Nov. 6 at the Garden, a game that will be remembered for Neal Pionk's coast-to-coast thrill ride to score the game-winner.
"A fast-paced game, they certainly like to play at a fast pace," Quinn said of the Canadiens. "We had a great game with them in our building - they got off to a great start, we had a great finish. So we certainly understand the challenge ahead of us."

"They're skilled, they're skilled and they're very fast, and if you give them just enough room they're going to do something about it," said Zibanejad. "They're speedy and they're energetic the way they play; we've got to make sure that we match that and match their intensity."

PROJECTED LINEUP

26 Vesey - 93 Zibanejad - 17 Fast
20 Kreider - 13 Hayes - 72 Chytil
50 Andersson - 21 Howden - 16 Strome
25 Gettinger - 38 Fogarty - 95 Lettieri
18 Staal - 44 Pionk
76 Skjei - 42 Smith
33 Claesson - 22 Shattenkirk
40 Georgiev
30 Lundqvist

NUMBERS GAME

Marc Staal will play in his 788th NHL game, tying his former defense partner Dan Girardi for ninth on the Rangers' all-time list, and the fifth-most games played by a Rangers defenseman.
Since 2009-10, the Rangers are 2-12-2 in regular-season games in Montreal. During that time, they are 4-2 here in the playoffs.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Zibanejad has five multipoint games this season, one of them against Montreal on Nov. 6 that included his eighth career goal against the Canadiens, the most he has scored against any NHL opponent.
The Canadiens spent their practice Friday working on their power play, which is tied for second-to-last in the League at 14.4 percent. But in steps Weber, who has scored 94 career goals on power plays, half his career goal total (189). His 214 power-play points rank fifth among active NHL defensemen.