Montreal Canadiens forward Cole Caufield scored the only goal of the shootout as the Habs knocked off the New York Rangers.
GAME RECAP | Montreal Canadiens 4 vs New York Rangers 3 | FINAL/SO
Canadiens Lineup
Forwards
22 Cole Caufield - 14 Nick Suzuki - 20 Juraj Slafkovsky
11 Brendan Gallagher - 71 Jake Evans - 17 Josh Anderson
51 Emil Heineman - 91 Sean Monahan - 56 Jesse Ylonen
55 Michael Pezzetta - 13 Mitchell Stephens - 40 Joel Armia
Defensemen
8 Mike Matheson - 58 David Savard
21 Kaiden Guhle - 52 Justin Barron
47 Jayden Struble - 54 Jordan Harris
Goaltenders
Starter: 35 Sam Montembeault
Alternate: 34 Jake Allen
Out of the lineup
Scratches: Gustav Lindstrom, Cayden Primeau, Johnathan Kovacevic
Injuries: Carey Price (knee), Chris Wideman (back), Kirby Dach (knee), Rafael Harvey-Pinard (lower body), Alex Newhook (lower body), Tanner Pearson (upper body), Christian Dvorak (upper body)
Game Report
This was an exciting Saturday night game at the Bell Centre filled with twists and turns. The Canadiens were hosting the best team in the Eastern Conference and were looking to rebound from a lackluster effort on Thursday night against the Buffalo Sabres.
The New York Rangers controlled the tempo of the first period making crisp passes and dominating the possession game. Shots on goal were 14-7 for the visitors but it was the Canadiens opening the scoring with Brendan Gallagher ending a lengthy goal drought. It was Gallagher's sixth goal of the year and his first since November 11th.
The second period was a wild affair with Montreal adding two more goals in the first three minutes of the frame to take a 3-0 lead. At the midway point of the period, Vincent Trocheck put the Rangers on the board and they would add one more goal before the period had expired. Shots on goal were 20-13 for the visitors.
At the 9:30 mark of the third period, Adam Fox rifled a shot past Sam Montembeault and the game was tied. The Canadiens had squandered a three goal lead turning the momentum over to the Rangers.
The two teams each had chances in overtime but nothing was settled. Cole Caufield scored the only goal of the shootout and the Canadiens earned themselves a huge win.
Once again, the Canadiens played a tight game in their own zone to insulate their goaltender. The Rangers registered 48 shots on goal but only 10 high danger scoring chances (5-on-5) in the game. Remarkably, Montreal skaters did not allow a high danger scoring chance (5-on-5) in the third period.
Game Statistics
Canadiens (17-17-5)
Shots: 30
Face-off %: 50.0
Power play: 0/2
Penalty minutes: 6
Hits: 15
Blocks:24
Rangers (26-10-2)
Shots: 48
Face-off %: 50.0
Power play: 0/3
Penalty minutes: 4
Hits: 17
Blocks: 15
Scoring Summary
Canadiens Scorers
1st period: Gallagher (6)
2nd period: Monahan (10), Armia (6)
3rd period: --
OT: --
SO: Caufield
Rangers Scorers
1st period: --
2nd period: Trocheck (10), Panarin (25)
3rd period: Fox (4)
OT: --
SO: --
Goaltenders
MTL: Montembeault (W) 9-5-3
NYR: Quick (OTL) 9-2-2
Canadiens Players of the Game
Jayden Struble - Struble and Jordan Harris were an outstanding pair. Struble was a plus-2 in 20:28 of icetime.
Brendan Gallagher - Gallagher set the tone with his first period goal and energized the Bell Centre crowd.
Sam Montembeault - Montembeault made 45 saves including big stops against Alexis Lafreniere in overtime and Mika Zibanejad in the shootout.
Video Highlights
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZcJ05-oTXk[/embed]
Post-game Quotes
Sam Montembeault
"It was the same move [Mike Zibanejad] used against me last year and he scored. It was a nice save and I was really happy about that."
Brendan Gallagher
"Every night here is special, but there’s some nights that stand out a little bit more. A Saturday night when the Rangers are in town, it was a good hockey game."
Up Next
The Canadiens will prepare for a brief road trip to Philadelphia to face the Flyers on Wednesday. They will return to Montreal for a game against the San Jose Sharks on Thursday at the Bell Centre.
Be sure to bookmark THN.com/Montreal for year-round coverage of the Montreal Canadiens, Laval Rocket, and Habs prospects playing in leagues around the world.
