Montreal takes on New York on 9-game skid

Montreal Canadiens (20-49-11, eighth in the Atlantic) vs. New York Rangers (51-23-6, second in the Metropolitan)

New York; Wednesday, 7:30 p.m. EDT

LINE: Rangers -378, Canadiens +293; over/under is 6

BOTTOM LINE: Montreal comes into the matchup with New York after losing nine straight games.

The Rangers are 34-12-2 against conference opponents. New York has scored 244 goals and is ninth in the Eastern Conference averaging 3.0 goals per game. Chris Kreider leads the team with 52.

The Canadiens are 13-31-4 in Eastern Conference play. Montreal scores 2.6 goals per game, the fewest in the NHL. Nick Suzuki leads them with 21 total goals.

In their last meeting on Nov. 16, New York won 3-2.

TOP PERFORMERS: Mika Zibanejad leads the Rangers with a plus-30 in 80 games this season. Artemi Panarin has 14 points over the last 10 games for New York.

Suzuki leads the Canadiens with 38 total assists and has 59 points. Cole Caufield has four goals and one assist over the last 10 games for Montreal.

LAST 10 GAMES: Rangers: 7-3-0, averaging 3.4 goals, 6.2 assists, 2.7 penalties and 6.8 penalty minutes while giving up 1.5 goals per game with a .946 save percentage.

Canadiens: 1-9-0, averaging 2.6 goals, 4.9 assists, 4.4 penalties and 11 penalty minutes while allowing 4.3 goals per game with an .871 save percentage.

INJURIES: Rangers: Kaapo Kakko: out (lower-body), Tyler Motte: out (upper body).

Canadiens: Justin Barron: out for season (ankle), Jake Allen: out for season (groin), Joel Armia: out (personal).

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.