The Canadiens practiced at the Bell Sports Complex in Brossard on Tuesday prior to departing for New York. The Club announced that Carey Price would join the team on the trip but would not play. The 34-year-old will undergo further medical testing.
The Rangers will surely pay tribute to Lafleur on Wednesday as well, as The Flower played 67 games for the Blueshirts in 1988-89, recording 18 goals and 27 assists with New York.
What's more, they'll be playing the second game of a back-to-back on Wednesday after facing the Hurricanes at home the night before. New York fell 4-3 to Carolina, which has a six-point lead over the Rangers and currently leads the Metropolitan Division.
The Rangers fought back into that one despite trailing 4-1 after a quick goal by Sebastian Aho just 32 seconds into the third period.
Jacob Trouba scored his 11th of the season with assists from K'Andre Miller and Mika Zibanejad, while Alexis Lafreniere reduced the deficit to one when he scored at 18:58 of the third with help from Chris Kreider and Adam Fox. Kreider also lit the lamp for his team in the second period.
The Rangers booked their ticket to the 2022 Playoffs back on April 10 in a 5-1 win over the Ottawa Senators. This will be their second appearance in the dance since 2017.
The Blueshirts hold the edge in the season series. They beat the Habs 3-1 in the season opener at the Bell Centre on October 16, and 3-2 exactly one month later in New York.
Broadcast information
Game time is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET.
Watch the action on Sportsnet East, Sportsnet Ontario, RDS, and MSG, or listen on the radio on TSN 690 and 98,5 fm.