Montreal goaltender Jaroslav Halak is expected in the net on Tuesday night. (Graham Hughes/Canadian Press)The Montreal Canadiens can go a long way toward ensuring a playoff spot on Tuesday when they visit the New York Rangers.
The Canadiens go for a sixth consecutive victory, which would separate them from the playoff dividing line by seven points in the Eastern Conference.
Depending on the outcome of the Philadelphia-Nashville clash on Tuesday, Montreal (35-29-6) could claim sole possession of sixth place by the end of the night with 11 games to go.
New York, meanwhile, is barely on the outside looking in. The Rangers (31-29-9) are just one point back of Boston and could move in eighth ahead of the floundering Bruins with a victory. Boston plays Carolina on Tuesday.
After a close victory by Montreal in an October game, the teams split a pair of one-sided games a week apart in late January. New York thumped the Habs 6-2 in the most recent meeting, at Madison Square Garden on Jan. 17.
The Canadiens have scored 13 goals in the season series against New York, but six of them have come from Mike Cammalleri, who's still out of the lineup with a knee injury.
Montreal has found offensive chemistry with its lines in recent games, with Sergei Kostitsyn scoring three times in the last two games. Kostitsyn scored twice in Saturday's 3-2 home win over the Boston Bruins.
Andrei Markov had a goal and an assist to extend his point streak to six games.
Jaroslav Halak has also played a big role in the winning streak, posting a 2.29 goals-against average while starting each game.
Halak, however, is 1-3-0 with a 4.11 average in four starts at MSG. He was in net for the loss on Jan. 17, in which Montreal allowed six unanswered goals after scoring twice.
Brandon Dubinsky and Ryan Callahan each scored twice as the Rangers roared back.
Montreal has not enjoyed much recent success at MSG, losing six of seven while getting outscored 24-8 in the defeats.
The team will have to wait until game time to see if Tomas Plekanec can go. Plekanec has a lower-body injury.
New York is coming off a 3-1 win over Philadelphia. Sean Avery responded from a benching earlier in the week with a pair of goals, with defenceman Michal Rozsival also scoring.
Henrik Lundqvist made 17 saves against the Flyers. He is 6-1 with a 1.86 goals-against average and a shutout in his last seven home starts against the Canadiens.
Montreal will return to action on Saturday with a Hockey Night in Canada game in Toronto (CBC, CBCSports.ca, 7 p.m. ET).
With files from The Associated Press
