Game 56 Preview: Colorado Avalanche (36-14-5) vs. New York Rangers (30-23-3)

Mar. 17, 2012; New York, NY, USA; Colorado Avalanche left wing Gabriel Landeskog (92) scores a goal through the legs of New York Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist (30) during the second period at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Debby Wong-USA TODAY Sports

The Colorado Avalanche (36-14-5, 77 points) are coming off of a thrilling win against the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center Monday night. P.A. Parenteau would tie the game up at one a piece as Tyson Barrie took a slap-shot from under the blue line as Parenteau would deflect it in for his 10th goal. Devils Andy Greene would take a costly penalty that sent the Avalanche on the 4-on-3 power-play to enter overtime. Ryan O’Reilly would strike for the Avs in overtime as they came away with the win, 2-1.

What: Game 56: Colorado Avalanche vs. New York Rangers
When: Tuesday, February 4th
Where: Madison Square Garden
Time: 7:00 PM ET, 5:00 PM MT
TV: Altitude Sports

This is the first of two meeting between the Avalanche and Rangers this season. With the win over the Devils on Monday night, Colorado has now extended their win streak to four games. Here is what head coach Patrick Roy had to say about the win over New Jersey:

"“I’m very proud of our group. Every night, the guys are focused and playing hard,” Colorado coach Patrick Roy said. “That’s the reason we had a chance to come back. We gave ourselves a chance to win.”"

Colorado has had some key players stepping up of late including 18-year-old rookie Nathan MacKinnon. He has eight points (3 goals and 5 assists) during a five-game point streak while forward Ryan O’Reilly has a point streak of his own in four games (2 goals, 3 assists). Against New Jersey, Colorado was without center Paul Stastny (ankle) and forward Alex Tanguay (knee) for the second-straight game as both are listed as day-to-day.

The New York Rangers have a streak of their own going as they are winners of three-straight looking for win number four on Tuesday night. Here is a stat I looked up since the start of the New Year:

Projected Starting Goaltenders:

Colorado Avalanche: Semyon Varlamov: 28-9-5, 2.43 GAA, .925% save percentage.
New York Rangers: Henrik Lundqvist: 20-18-3, 2.46 GAA, .917% save percentage.

Team Leaders:

Points:

Colorado Avalanche: Matt Duchene, 47.
New York Rangers: Brad Richards, 39.

 Goals:

Colorado Avalanche: Nathan MacKinnon, 20.
New York Rangers: Rick Nash, 18.

Assists:

Colorado Avalanche: Matt Duchene, 30.
New York Rangers: Brad Richards, 25.

Plus/Minus:

Colorado Avalanche: Gabriel Landeskog, +12.
New York Rangers: Chris Kreider, +14.

Goals Against Average:

Colorado Avalanche: Semyon Varlamov, 2.43.
New York Rangers: Cam Talbot, 1.78.