New York @ Montreal preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 1, 2019 ) Montreal 4, NY Rangers 2

The Montreal Canadiens hope to get their offense back in gear and put an end to a mini slump when they continue a five-game homestand Saturday night against the New York Rangers. The Canadiens have lost three straight games (0-1-2) and managed three goals in the past two after dropping a 2-1 overtime decision against Ottawa on Wednesday to open their run at the Bell Centre.

“We’re not playing bad hockey but we’re not finishing our chances,” Montreal coach Claude Julien told reporters after the loss to the Senators. “When you don’t finish your chances, you give the other team a chance to stay in the game. It’s frustrating, it’s unfortunate, but it’s not because we’re playing bad hockey.” The Canadiens have won four of the last five meetings with the Rangers, who continued their see-saw season with a 4-1 setback at Ottawa on Friday night and coach David Quinn told reporters afterward he was "unhappy with everybody." New York is showing glimpses of strong play since a 2-4-0 start to the season, but has yet to string three wins together and dropped three of the past four contests - starting with a 9-3 loss at Tampa Bay on Nov. 14 and giving up 39 shots on net Friday. Rangers leading scorer Artemi Panarin (11 goals, 25 points this season) saw his 12-game point streak come to an end against the Senators after scoring twice in a 4-1 victory over league-best Washington on Wednesday.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, NHL Network, MSG 2 (New York), Sportsnet East, CITY, TVA (Montreal)

ABOUT THE RANGERS (9-9-2): Center Mika Zibanejad, who collected 11 points in the first nine games of the season before suffering an upper-body injury, is skating and could be closing in on a much-anticipated return to the lineup. Forward Ryan Strome is second on the team with 19 points, but was held without a shot Friday, and 18-year-old rookie wing Kaapo Kakko was kept off the scoresheet versus Ottawa after scoring three times and setting up two others in the previous three games. Henrik Lundqvist (5-5-1) took the loss in net Friday and remains tied with Curtis Joseph for fifth in NHL history with 454 victories.

ABOUT THE CANADIENS (11-6-5): Leading scorer Tomas Tatar (seven goals, 20 points) has been kept off the scoresheet in the last two contests, but center Phillip Danault posted at least a point in five straight games to push his season total to 17. Right wing Brendan Gallagher and defenseman Shea Weber match Danault with 17 points while rookie forward Nick Suzuki has warmed up with more ice time - due to injuries to Jonathan Drouin (wrist) and Paul Byron (knee) - by scoring three times in the past four games. Goalie Carey Price (10-5-3, .912 save percentage) has given up two goals in four of his last five starts (3-1-1).

OVERTIME

1. New York LW Pavel Buchnevich, who is slated to play his 200th NHL game Saturday, has nine points in his last eight contests.

2. Montreal D Victor Mete (three goals, six points) shares the team lead with Danault at a plus-9 rating.

3. The Canadiens (72.5 percent) and Rangers (71.8) are in the bottom four of the league in penalty killing.

PREDICTION: Rangers 3, Canadiens 2