Recap: Rangers Finally Snap Losing Streak, Win 4-3 Over Montreal

With Kreider and Chytil back in the lineup, the stage was set for the Rangers to have a burst of life in the second half of their first back-to-back this season. Following another depleted effort the night prior, the pressure was on for the Rangers to find a way to win and with some help from their Captain to set the tone early, they were able to do just that. Let's get right into it:

1st Period:

Well, I think it’s safe to say Jacob Trouba read Larry Brooks’ article last night. After a better start to the game from the Rangers, Jacob Trouba dropped the gloves with Josh Anderson immediately following an offensive zone face-off. This was also likely in response to the last meeting between these two team’s as Trouba had taken out Justin Barron with a massive hit. 

About eight minutes in, Montreal was called for the first minor penalty of the night as Emil Heineman was called for holding. This gave the Rangers their first power play of the weekend after not getting a single chance with the man advantage the day prior. Less than a minute in, Mike Matheson sent the puck over the glass in an attempt to clear the zone which turned the man advantage into a 5-on-3 for the Rangers.

It’s worth noting that the Rangers opted to put Alexis Lafrenière out there over Vincent Trocheck which is certainly refreshing to see. After finally beginning to shoot with some purpose, Artemiy Panarin got some help with a screen in front from Chris Kreider and fired a puck off the post and in to make it a 1-0 game early. 

Montreal was quick to remind the Rangers that they can’t sit back. With just over eight minutes to go, Lafrenière was caught out there with Trocheck and Berard and had a bit of a defensive lapse which led to Matheson having all the time and space in the world to let a shot go from up high to tie things up 1-1. 

About a minute later, the Rangers were sent to the penalty kill as Chris Kreider was called for holding. Not a great penalty to take, especially in the offensive zone but after missing the last three games with injury, we can chalk that up to a bit of rust. The Rangers had a tough time on the penalty kill with the same four skaters being caught out there for ¾’s of the two minute disadvantage but managed to come out of it unscathed. 

With three and a half to go, Trocheck was called for high sticking which sent the Rangers back to penalty kill. A pretty bad call from the officials considering it was the stick of Montreal’s Christian Dvorak that clipped David Savard up high but nevertheless, the Rangers were short handed once again and thankfully, fought it off. Jonathan Quick came up with a key save on a Cole Caufield one-timer to help keep this thing tied heading into the final stretch of the period. 

In the dying seconds of the period, a great push from the Rangers resulted in a shot from Lafrenière at the point which deflected off a Trocheck stick in front to find the back of the net with 2.3 seconds left on the clock. A great play from Lafrenière to make up for the goal against he was on the ice for earlier. 

At the end of the first twenty, the Rangers were up 2-1 in a period they had much more to feel good about, especially after the late goal. They were out-shooting Montreal 1-7 and led in the high danger count 4-1 despite falling behind in expected goals for 0.97-0.72. Overall, the effort was much more noticeable albeit against a weaker opponent. The Rangers were also 1-for-2 on the power play and won 68% of the face-offs. 

2nd Period:

Early in the second, Lafrenière took a late hit from Arber Xhekaj that may have clipped his knee more than anything. As Lafrenière struggled to get up and off the ice on his own power, Sam Carrick went after Xhekaj to stand up for his teammate but Xhekaj refused which of course gave the Rangers another penalty. Thankfully, the Rangers fought off the advantage and Lafrenière was back out there for his next shift. 

It was a pretty quiet stretch that followed the power play attempt from Montreal. However one thing that was becoming quite noticeable on the Rangers end was their physicality and general involvement in some of the dirtier areas of the game. Vincent Trocheck was really engaged in that side of things as was Adam Fox who really started to show some of that in yesterday’s game. Little things like this sequence involving those two were really what this team needed but had been lacking across these past few games. 

With just under four minutes to go in the period, Josh Anderson was sent off for roughing against Ryan Lindgren which gave the Rangers another chance with the power play. Trocheck was back out there on the top unit which was moving the puck well early. Just 49 seconds in, Panarin fed Mika Zibanejad at the point who after faking the shot, let a wrister go that went straight to the back of the net, again through a Kreider screen to extend their lead, 3-1. 

Then with a minute and a half left all hell broke loose. After Jonathan Quick froze the play, Kirby Dach rammed Zibanejad into Quick which triggered a reaction from the veteran netminder. Will Cuylle then got involved with Juraj Slafkovski, Ryan Lindgren got involved with David Savard, even Mika Zibanejad was getting involved in the chaos! This was the exact kind of energy this team has so desperately needed throughout this brutal stretch and they were finally reacting. Better late than never right? 

After a lengthy discussion, the Rangers ended up with another man advantage as Juraj Slafkovsky was given an additional penalty along with the three matching calls among all the extracurriculars. The Rangers wouldn’t have enough time to convert but would still have about 30 seconds of power play time to start the third. At the end of two, shots were 23-20 in favor of New York but the Canadiens had the bulk of the scoring chances 16-6. 

3rd Period:

Montreal ate up the final seconds left of the man advantage and built off that momentum to have a good start to the third period. Another lesson for the Rangers to not sit back on a lead as Cole Caufield found the back of the net close to five minutes in. A bit of a weak one for Quick to give up who has had a strong game up to that point as Cole Caufield let a quick shot go while looking to make a pass. 

Not long after the goal, Brett Berard took a hard hit in the corner which left him in a great deal of discomfort slowly skating to the bench. Lafrenière went right over to Kirby Dach who delivered the hit and appeared to have challenged him but Dach wasn’t interested in another scrap. Berard would head to the Rangers locker room to be checked out but would return eventually. Well, initially Brett Gallagher did.. God we’re going to miss Sam Rosen. 

It was looking to be another low event chunk of the period but with six minutes to go, the Rangers made a costly error. Another failed attempt to clear the zone resulted in a defensive zone turnover that ended up on the stick of Suzuki and in the back of Quick’s net to tie the game up 3-3. 

With just over two and a half to go in the third, Mika Zibanejad took a stick up high from Dach which drew some blood to give the Rangers four minutes worth of a power play. The Rangers spent the remainder of regulation in Montreal’s end of the ice. With less than thirty seconds to go in the game, Will Cuylle ended up with the puck all alone in front of the net and dished it over to Kakko at the doorstep. A massive moment for this team as Kakko was able to fire it home, regaining the lead 4-3. 

Montreal made a push in the dying seconds but the Rangers held them off and finally snapped the losing streak. Wasn’t a perfect showing but this group got the job done and played with some fire that had been sorely missed through this recent stretch. Still a lot of work to be done but there’s no doubt that skating away with a pair of points was a step in the right direction. The Rangers are right back at it on home ice Monday Night as they’ll host their Hudson River Rivals, the New Jersey Devils.