• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Rangers try to rebound against Avalanche

Mar 17, 2012 - 2:36 PM (Sports Network) - The New York Rangers will try to rebound from a rough home loss when they host the surging Colorado Avalanche tonight at Madison Square Garden.

The Rangers had a two-game winning streak snapped and lost for the fourth time in six games when they were dealt a 5-2 setback by Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday.

Crosby played in his first game since suffering a recurrence of concussion- like symptoms on Dec. 5 and recorded a pair of assists to help the Pens move within four points of the Rangers for first place in the Atlantic Division. Pittsburgh, which has played one less game than New York, is in action today in New Jersey.

Marian Gaborik and Carl Hagelin each had a goal and an assist in the loss for New York. Martin Biron made his second straight start in place of Henrik Lundqvist, who was out with an illness, and allowed five goals on 32 shots.

"We had some struggles on the back end as far as their quickness, and they capitalized." Rangers head coach John Tortorella said.

Tortorella and the Rangers hope to have Lundqvist back tonight from flu-like symptoms. The Vezina Trophy candidate skated on Friday and is questionable for this evening.

Lundqvist isn't the only player on the shelf for the Rangers, who lost forward Artem Anisimov to an upper-body injury on Thursday. New York has also played without captain Ryan Callahan and defenseman Michael Del Zotto for the last three and four games, respectively. Both players are questionable tonight.

New York's loss to Pittsburgh dropped the club to 24-8-2 at home this year. The Rangers will try to bounce back tonight in the fourth part of a seven-game homestand.

Colorado is also coming off a loss on Thursday, a 1-0 shootout setback against the Devils. The Avalanche have still posted a point in four straight games (3-0-1) and are 5-1-1 in their last seven trips to the ice. The Avs enter today tied with the Coyotes for the seventh seed in the West with 81 points, which is only one ahead of the lurking Sharks, Kings and Flames.

San Jose and Los Angeles are also in action tonight, while Phoenix and Calgary are off until Sunday.

The Avalanche fired 28 shots at New Jersey goaltender Martin Brodeur on Thursday and the future Hall of Famer stopped every one of them before denying both Colorado players he faced in the shootout.

In the first round, New Jersey's Ilya Kovalchuk outlasted Jean-Sebastien Giguere to the right before burying his wrister. Brodeur then made a glove save on Milan Hejduk's wrister and Zach Parise made it a two-score margin when he froze Giguere with a backhander. Brodeur then sealed the win as he made a pad save on Peter Mueller's attempt.

Giguere was credited with his second shutout of the season as he stopped 33 shots through regulation and overtime for the Avalanche, who had a three-game winning streak stopped.

"This game could have gone either way, for sure," said Giguere. "I thought we played a good game, but they were just as good over there."

Colorado, which is completing a three-game road trip this evening, is 17-15-4 as the guest this season.

Tonight's matchup is the first encounter between the Rangers and Avs since Colorado posted a 5-1 home win on Nov. 19, 2010. The Avalanche have taken nine of the last 11 encounters in this series overall and four of the last five staged in the Big Apple.