Artemi Panarin, Vincent Trocheck and Alexis Lafreniere were the most productive line at five-on-five in the NHL last season.

Which came first: stability within the lineup or stability on the ice? A year ago, Peter Laviolette’s first season behind the Rangers bench produced remarkable consistency with line combinations and defense pairings even when Filip Chytil went down for the regular-season count in the 10th game of the year.

BOTTOM LINE: The Colorado Avalanche and the New York Rangers take the ice in an out-of-conference matchup. Colorado has gone 12-8-1 at home and 26-17-1 overall. The Avalanche are sixth in the league with 146 total goals (averaging 3.3 per game).

But coach Peter Laviolette wasn't ready or willing to confirm if either player would be in the lineup on Tuesday night.

Vincent Trocheck scored the only goal of the shootout, Igor Shesterkin stopped 27 shots and New York Rangers beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 1-0 on Saturday night. Shesterkin got his second shutout ...