Rangers Vs. Canadiens Preview: The Return To Madison Square Garden
The New York Rangers will play their first home game of the season tonight against the Montreal Canadiens.
The night is finally here. The New York Rangers will be back at Madison Square Garden tonight for their first home game of the regular season. The Rangers are coming off of a very satisfying win over the Detroit Red Wings, and are looking to carry it over to MSG. Here are some pregame notes.
- The Canadiens are also a little banged up as Max Pacioretty, Brandon Prust, George Parros, Davis Drewiske, and Alexei Emelin are all out tonight.
- Peter Budaj will be getting the start in net tonight for the Canadiens, while Henrik Lundqvist will be making his anticipated return to the lineup.
- Alain Vigneault has elected to keep the lineup the same as he did on Saturday, which means Brandon Mashinter and Justin Falk will remain as healthy scratches.
- With the Rangers playing their tenth game tonight, Carl Hagelin is eligible to come off of LTIR as early as tomorrow. He told the media today that he is 100% ready to return, and it will be the coaches decision if they decide to use him.
The full lineup for tonight's game can be found below.
VS. 
New York Rangers (3-6-0) vs Montreal Canadiens (6-5-0)
Madison Square Garden - New York, NY - 7:30 PM
Television: MSG, NBCSN, RDS, TSN | Radio: ESPN NY 98.7 |
Opponent's Blog: Eyes On The Prize
Projected Lineup:
Chris Kreider - Derek Stepan - Brad Richards
Benoit Pouliot - Derick Brassard - J.T. Miller
Mats Zuccarello - Dominic Moore - Jesper Fast
Taylor Pyatt - Brian Boyle - Derek Dorsett
Ryan McDonagh - Dan Girardi
Marc Staal - Anton Stralman
John Moore - Michael Del Zotto
Henrik Lundqvist
Cam Talbot
Scratches: Rick Nash (concussion), Carl Hagelin (shoulder), Ryan Callahan (hand), Justin Falk (healthy), Brandon Mashinter (healthy).