Rangers vs. Canadiens Preview: Rangers Finally Back In Action Tonight; Stepan Resumes Skating

After sitting idle since Tuesday, the New York Rangers will finally return to action tonight against the Montreal Canadiens. This will be the first meeting between these two familiar foes, who last saw action against one another in the Eastern Conference Finals, where the Rangers came out victorious with a 4-2 series win. There was also something that happened between Chris Kreider, and Carey Price, which we won't talk about because it's stupid, and way overblown.

The Canadiens are currently sitting at the top of the Atlantic Division, are winners in their last three appearances, and currently undefeated (3-0-0) on home ice. There's no question that prior to last season's playoffs, the Rangers had some serious issues when going into Montreal. Hopefully, whatever it was, has been squashed by last season's run, and the Rangers can move on from the "ghosts" in Montreal. The Rangers lineup is expected to remain the same as last game, with the only change being Anthony Duclair subbing in for Ryan Malone on the third line.

Alain Vigneault also brought some positive news to the table this morning as well, as he mentioned Derek Stepan has resumed skating on his own. With that little piece of information, it sounds as if Stepan is still on course with his recovery, which could allow him to return sometime in early November. The 10 game LTIR mark is quickly approaching, and if all goes as planned, the Rangers will have their number one center back pretty soon.

All of the information about tonight's game can be found in the table below.

2014-2015 Regular season - Game #8
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New York Rangers 4-3-0 (8 PTS) 5th in Metropolitan		Montreal Canadiens 6-1-0 (12 PTS) 1st in Atlantic