Boston @ New York preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 19, 2019 ) NY Rangers 3, Boston 2

The New York Rangers remain in search of a victory on their five-game homestand as they attempt to halt a three-game slide at Madison Square Garden when they meet the Boston Bruins on Wednesday. New York fell to 0-1-1 on its string of home contests with Monday's heartbreaking 4-3 overtime setback against Los Angeles.

The Rangers never trailed the Kings but allowed three one-goal leads to disappear, including one with a minute remaining in the third period, before surrendering a tally 25 seconds into the extra session. Mika Zibanejad recorded a goal and an assist to increase his team-leading - and career-high - point total to 52 and give him three straight multi-point performances during which he collected four tallies and as many assists. While New York is trying to remain in contention for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference, Boston is vying for a top-three spot in the Atlantic Division as it carries a four-game point streak (2-0-2) into Wednesday's contest. Patrice Bergeron celebrated his 1,000th career game on Tuesday by scoring twice in a 3-1 home victory over the New York Islanders for the Bruins, who are one point behind Montreal for third in the Atlantic with one game in hand.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network

ABOUT THE BRUINS (29-17-7): Bergeron became just the fifth player to appear in 1,000 games with the Bruins, joining Ray Bourque (1,518), John Bucyk (1,436), Don Sweeney (1,052) and Wayne Cashman (1,027). The 33-year-old center has landed on the scoresheet in five of his last six contests, collecting four goals and three assists in that span. David Pastrnak, who leads the team with 64 points, has recorded three goals and six assists during his five-game point streak.

ABOUT THE RANGERS (22-22-8): Zibanejad etched his name in the franchise record book on Monday, factoring in on each tally to give him a point on 10 consecutive team goals. The 25-year-old Swede, who has registered six goals and four assists during his streak, eclipsed the previous record of eight set in 1967-68 by Rod Gilbert. Mats Zuccarello has collected five goals and nine assists during his eight-game point streak after setting up a tally against Los Angeles.

OVERTIME

1. Rangers LW Chris Kreider has tallied in two of his last three games to raise his team-leading goal total to 24, which is four shy of the career high he set in 2016-17.

2. Boston LW Brad Marchand has been kept off the scoresheet just once in his last eight contests, collecting three goals and nine assists over that stretch.

3. The Rangers' line of Zibanejad, Zuccarello and Kreider has registered 18 goals and 20 assists in the last eight games it has been together.

PREDICTION: Bruins 4, Rangers 2