On Saturday, the New York Rangers snapped a five-game losing streak by beating the Montreal Canadiens by a score of 4-3 at Madison Square Garden.
Artemi Panarin opened the scoring when he fired a shot through a heavy screen on the power play that found the upper right part of the net to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead.
Two minutes later, Mike Matheson tied it up for the visiting Canadiens when he scored a wrist shot from the slot.
WIth seconds left in the first period, Vincent Trocheck deflected Alexis Lafreniere’s shot past Canadiens’ goalie Sam Montembeault to put the hosts out in front 2-1.
It took almost until the end of the second period for there to be another goal and boy did it come from the right player. On the power play, Mika Zibanejad who had gone five games without scoring a goal, faked a slap shot and took a wrister from the point that beat Montembeault to give the Rangers a 3-1 lead.
The Canadiens didn’t go quietly into that good night as Cole Caufield pulled them within a goal at 3:06 of the third period, by sending home a quick shot that beat Ranger goalie Jonathan Quick to the far side of the net.
Then one of the problems that the Rangers have been having lately reared its ugly head. At 14:07 of the third period, the puck got up to the point inside the Rangers defensive zone and the Rangers couldn’t clear it. Centerman Filip Chytil was caught out of position, skating into the neutral zone. The Canadiens took possession of the puck and came back at the Rangers with an odd man rush that ended with a Nick Suzuki tap in to tie the game at three.
After this, the Canadiens took their sixth penalty of the game, a double-minor for high-sticking against Kirby Dach. With just under three minutes to go in the game, the Rangers would have a man advantage for four minutes.
The Rangers were held in check for the first two minutes of the penalty but then Kaapo Kakko scored on a feed from Will Cuylle to give the Blueshirts the lead with 22 seconds left in the game.
KAAPO KAKKO WITH 22 SECONDS LEFT pic.twitter.com/grXS1mArXU
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) November 30, 2024
The Blueshirts would hang on for a 4-3 victory and improve their record to 13-9-1.
The Rangers looked more like their old selves on Saturday, excelling on the power play. Laviolette’s men ended the day going three-for-six on the power play. The Rangers also held the opposing team’s shots on goal to under 30 for the first time in their last six games.
Laviolette’s Rangers will next face the New Jersey Devils on Monday Dec. 2 with a puckdrop scheduled for 7 p.m. at Madison Square Garden.
