When: Saturday, November 5, 7:00 p.m.

Opponent: vs. Montreal (5-5-2)

TV: MSG

UPDATE: The Rangers officially agreed to terms with defenseman Anton Stralman. (2:23 p.m.) 

UPDATE: Lundqvist will be in net for the Rangers, who will wear their Heritage jerseys for the first time this season. (11:48 a.m.)

EARLIER: October was an odd month for the New York Rangers, but Halloween and the start of November have represented a change on Broadway.

The Blueshirts have slowly but surely begun to rediscover their blue-collar identity and are showing signs of gelling into the legitimate playoff team many expected them to be prior to the season.

New York has been led by its trademark strong goaltending, but the Blueshirts have also benefitted tremendously from the strong play of their young defense:

“We don’t talk about it enough,” Coach John Tortorella said after Thursday’s game.  “Ryan McDonagh, you can see his confidence growing and growing in all facets, offensively he’s trying to push.  Michael Sauer is in the way.  Dan Girardi we know about as far as what he can do.  Michael Del Zotto is a very important guy for us right now and what’s happened with our defense and I think he’s progressed nicely.” 

The defense has been solid all season, but the Rangers are also slowly starting to receive some supplemental scoring for their big guns and the result is that the team now boasts a two-game home winning streak.

New York has a back-to-back this weekend with two winnable games against Montreal and Winnipeg, both of which struggled out of the gate but have picked up their play of late.

The Canadiens always seem to give the Rangers trouble and won three of the four games between these teams a season ago.

This year Montreal appeared to be a team in decline, but the Canadiens picked up their fourth-straight win last night over the Ottawa Senators.

The Canadiens are buoyed by star goalie Carey Price, but Montreal sorely misses star defenseman Andrei Markov, who’s out with a knee injury yet again.  Surprisingly, the Canadiens have boasted a fairly balanced attack this season and have nine players with two goals or more.

Montreal has allowed just five goals during its current winning streak, with Price in net each time including Friday night.  That means that there’s a decent chance career backup Peter Budaj will be in net on Saturday.

New York has more team speed than in recent years and thus should be better equipped to handle Montreal’s small but swift attack, but it all comes down to the question of whether New York can play its game.

For nearly 60 minutes against San Jose on Monday the Rangers controlled the play and dominated one of the league’s best teams.  On Thursday night, the Blueshirts’ relentless forecheck assault pinned Anaheim deep for the first 20 minutes of the game when the Ducks only had two shots on goal.

If that swarming version of the 2011-2012 Rangers shows up on Saturday, New York could easily extend its winning streak to three games.

But consistency has been a major issue this season, so the key for Tortorella’s squad will be to avoid falling into the bad habits that put his team in an early hole. 

New York must focus on playing the same way and that means no more bad penalties, slow starts, stretches of coasting, or failure to generate pressure offensively.

If the Blueshirts continue to avoid those pitfalls, then November could be smooth sailing.

- Wojtek Wolski underwent an MRI on his wonky groin Friday and won’t play tomorrow, so Sean Avery will make his triumphant return to the lineup.

- Mike Rupp is scheduled to have arthroscopic surgery on his knee next week, a procedure that typically keeps a player out of action for three-to-four weeks.

- The timeline for Marc Staal’s recovery remains “indefinite.”

- Reports prior to Thursday’s game indicated that defenseman Anton Stralman had signed with the Rangers, but the contract has yet to be finalized.

2011-2012 season:

Eastern Conference Preview > (10/3/11)

Western Conference Preview > (10/4/11)

Experts Predict Where The Rangers Will Finish > (10/5/11)

NY Rangers Season Preview > (10/5/11)

Rangers Claim Jeff Woywitka Off Waivers > (10/6/11) 

“The King” Vs. The Kings In Season-Opener > (10/7/11)

Penalties Doom Rangers In OT Loss To Kings > (10/7/11)

To Duck Anaheim, Rangers Must Stay Out Of The Box > (10/7/11)

No Offense, But Rangers Pick Up Another Point > (10/8/11)

Tim Erixon Will Stick Around For The Time Being > (10/9/11)

Lessons Learned: Two Games In The Books > (10/10/11)

Time To Move Stepan To First-Line Left Wing > (10/10/11)

Rangers Show Early Improvement With Faceoffs > (10/11/11)

Missing Vinny > (10/13/11)

Rangers Must Find A Way With Patchwork Defense > (10/14/11)

New Top Line Shows Promise, But Rangers Have No Answer For John Tavares > (10/15/11)

Stats To Chew On > (10/17/11)

Zuccarello's Future On Broadway In Doubt > (10/17/11)

Rangers Must Slow The Sedins, Score Some Goals > (10/18/11)

Henrik Lundqvist Beats The Canucks, With A Little Help In The Third Period > (10/19/11)

All Is Not Well In Ranger-land > (10/19/11)

Another Slow Start Might Not Cut It Against Calgary > (10/19/11)

McDonagh Scores Winner With Just Over 1 Second Remaining In OT >(10/20/11)

The Path To New York Is Clearing Quickly For Carl Hagelin And Ryan Bourque > (10/21/11)

Rangers Seek Third Win In A Row Against Renney’s Crew > (10/22/11)

Crisis Averted As Rangers Are Shutout By Edmonton > (10/23/11)

Whirlwind Road Trip Concludes In Winnipeg On Monday > (10/24/11)

Stats To Chew On > (10/24/11)

Two Parts Of The Recipe Change And New York Wins > (10/24/11)

Lessons Learned: Seven Games In The Books > (10/26/11)

Home Cookin’ At Last > (10/27/11)

Without Great Goaltending, New York Had No Chance > (10/27/11)

60 Minutes > (10/28/11)

Rangers Blow Three-Goal Lead And Lose In Shootout > (10/29/11)

Surprise! Rangers To Recall Sean Avery > (10/30/11)

Searching For Offense > (10/31/11)

Stats To Chew On > (10/31/11)

“Soft” Rangers Rip Sharks > (11/1/11)

Blueshirt Bulletin's Bull of the Month: Henrik Lundqvist > (11/1/11)

The Hunt For A Veteran Defenseman Continues > (11/2/11)

Duck Hunting > (11/2/11)

Marian Gaborik Scores Shootout Winner To Give Rangers Second-Straight Win > (11/3/11)

Sean Avery Has Had An Interesting Month > (11/4/11)

Rangers Host Climbing Canadiens In Penultimate Game Of Homestand > (11/5/11)

Click here for our full 2011-2012 Season Archive >

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