Game #38: New York Rangers vs Montreal Canadiens Open Thread

After coming away victorious in an Original Six battle in New York two nights ago, the Rangers have hit the road for yet another historic matchup. Peter Laviolette’s squad has made the trip across the border to the north for a matchup with the Montreal Canadiens.

Tonight’s contest is the first of three meeting between New York and Montreal of the 2023-24 campaign, and will be the only one contested in the wonderful province of Quebec. The Rangers have been up and down to begin 2024, as their resounding win over Chicago on Thursday was preceded by an even more resounding loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday. One could argue that Les Habitants, as they like to call themselves, are closer to Chicago than Carolina, but are still not an opponent to be taken lightly given the Rangers’ struggles historically in games at the Bell Centre.

Player to Watch: Chris Kreider

We’re approaching ten years since the Rangers and Canadiens met in the 2014 Eastern Conference Finals. New York defeated Montreal in six games to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals in a series most known for Carey Price missing all but the first two periods of Game 1 after a collision with Chris Kreider. Kreider is the only Rangers till with the team ten years later, and one of two players (along with Montreal’s Brendan Gallagher) skating tonight that participated in that fateful series in the spring of 2014. Keep an eye on Kreider tonight as he gets the living daylights booed out of him and attempts to ignore the noise and help the Rangers earn another victory.

Enjoy the game!