Preview: Rangers Look to Extend Win Streak Against Canadiens

The best thing to happen to the Rangers on Monday was seeing one of their rookies, Brett Howden, walking around the practice facility with a smile on his face and no major injury, a day after a frightening collision in Sunday's game.
On Tuesday, the most exciting thing to happen to the Rangers will be getting a look at another rookie centerman, one who is about to make his 2018-19 NHL debut.
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Lias Andersson, the Rangers' No. 7 overall draft choice in 2017,
was called up from AHL Hartford on Monday evening
and will join the Rangers on Tuesday night at the Garden to face the Montreal Canadiens. Andersson will play in his eighth career NHL game and first since a seven-game stint to close out last season.
Andersson, who celebrated his 20th birthday on Oct. 13, was part of a group of centers vying to make the Rangers' roster out of Training Camp. But the team determined that Hartford was the best place for him to start the year, and he reported to the Wolf Pack determined to make the most of his time there - and through 14 games has followed through, to the tune of 12 points (4-8-12) while seeing top-unit duty on both special teams.

Andersson came to North America last January, joining Hartford after captaining Sweden to the silver medal at the World Junior Championships in Buffalo, during which he played the semifinal and final with a separated shoulder. He scored five goals and 14 points in 25 games for Hartford before being promoted for the final seven games of the Rangers' season, in which he had a goal and an assist.
Andersson was awarded the Lars-Erik Sjoberg Award as the top Rangers' top rookie in Training Camp this fall, an honor previously bestowed upon current Rangers Henrik Lundqvist, Marc Staal, Jesper Fast and in the past two years Jimmy Vesey (2016) and Filip Chytil (2017). Andersson played in five of the Rangers' six preseason games; in the opener, he scored shorthanded and on a power play against New Jersey.
Howden, meanwhile, was the 20-year-old rookie who won a spot on the Rangers with his strong play in Traverse City and through Training Camp, and he has made the most of his opportunity, too: His assist in the second period of Sunday's 3-1 win over the Sabres gave him points in four of his last five games, and his nine points on the season (3-6-9) ranked second among all NHL rookies entering Monday night's games.

But before the second period was out on Sunday night, Howden was forced from the game by a frightening crash into the backboards. Having just missed finishing a 2-on-1 feed at full speed, Howden went off-balance into the wall, where he was sandwiched by Buffalo's Vladimir Sobotka, who had been backchecking on the play.
David Quinn said after the game that Howden had been removed for "precautionary reasons," and even though Howden declared on Monday that he's "doing fine" - and Quinn after practice wasn't ruling out that Howden could play against Montreal - the Rangers will proceed with appropriate restraint.
"I feel good to be here, just kind of taking it day by day," said Howden, who did not practice Monday. "I came off a change, and Veese (Vesey) created a 2-on-1 and threw a pass. I hit the side of the net I think, and with all my momentum I couldn't stop - I was kind of using the boards as something to stop me, but their guy carried on into me. So I was just kind of smushed against the boards.

"All the guys were asking me what it was, because it looked like it could've been multiple things. Yeah, really lucky that it's nothing serious. It was kind of just an awkward play."
Howden said he saw replays of the crash after leaving the game. "I didn't realize I went in that hard," he said. "It happened so fast, the game is so fast. Really lucky that it's nothing serious."
"To me it looked like it could've been a number of issues, knee, head, shoulder, back - it was a pretty dangerous crash. So the fact that we're talking about that he might be able to play tomorrow night, we feel very fortunate."
The coach added: "We'll certainly err on the side of caution with him."
Ryan Spooner, a scratch on Sunday, skated at practice on Monday in Howden's spot centering Vesey and Fast but is still dealing with a minor lower-body ailment.
Lundqvist, who was involved in a more minor collision on Sunday, practiced as usual on Monday and said that after getting some treatment he would be good to go when the Rangers face the Canadiens looking to make it four wins in a row. The Rangers took encouragement from their ability to grind out a win Sunday against the Sabres in a game in which they didn't have their best legs.
"For us to gut those two points out was huge," said Brady Skjei, who assisted on Vesey's second goal and also led the Rangers on Sunday in ice time (24:50), shots (three) and blocked shots (five). "You don't want to put excuses on it, but the travel the last few days has made it tough, guys might not have had their A game. But we found a way to win, whereas maybe earlier in the season we might've played better but couldn't find a way to win."

"I think we're learning from experience right now, and that's a great sign," said Lundqvist, who stopped 39 of 40 Sabres shots. "We'll just try to keep pushing here and continue that good feeling we've had over the last week or so."
The Canadiens have been one of the NHL's surprise teams over the season's first month, jumping out to a 8-4-2 record following their shootout win Monday night in Brooklyn. The newly arrived Max Domi, a speedy centerman acquired over the summer from Arizona for Alex Galchenyuk, had a goal and an assist against the Islanders and leads the way with 15 points (8-7-15), while a familiar face to the Rangers, Brendan Gallagher, has scored a team-high nine goals in Montreal's first 14 games.
"There's guys like that on every team," Skjei said of Gallagher, who is known to be a handful around the net and in the corners. "We know how to play against those guys, and we've played against him before, especially in the playoffs. Just got to be physical and smart."
Antti Niemi took the start against the Islanders last night, so Carey Price (5-3-2, 2.59, .907) will oppose Lundqvist - and face Andersson and the rest of the Rangers - on Tuesday night.

NUMBERS GAME

Dating to Feb. 23, 2013, nine of the last 17 regular-season meetings between the Rangers and Canadiens have resulted in a shutout for either of the teams, including Lundqvist's 34-save shutout last Oct. 8 at the Garden.
Entering Monday's match, Domi had seven goals in 13 games this season; last year he had nine goals in 82 games, four of which were empty-netters. His shooting percentage stood at 24.1 percent (seven goals on 29 shots), up from 6 percent a season ago.
Domi has eight goals in 14 games this season; last year he had nine goals in 82 games, four of which were empty-netters. His shooting percentage stands at 26.7 percent (eight goals on 30 shots), up from 6 percent a season ago.
The Rangers' last four-game winning streak came from Nov. 19-26, 2017.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Andersson is tied for 13th in scoring in the American League, and is the youngest player among the league's top 39 scorers. In seven games with the Rangers last season, he averaged 11:57 on ice, and scored in his NHL debut at the Garden against Washington.
Montreal's Jesperi Kotkaniemi, born July 6, 2000, is the youngest player in the NHL. He scored the first two goals of his NHL career on Thursday against Washington, and had six points in 13 games entering Monday night.
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