Stan Fischler US Hall Of Fame MSG The New York Rangers [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-rangers/new-york-rangers/blake-wheeler-new-york-rangers-montreal-canadiens-injury] notched their sixth straight win, defeating the Montreal Canadiens by a 7-4 score. New York took command in the second period and never looked back. Chris Kreider recorded a hat trick on the night, the sixth of his career. Adam Fox recorded four assists, and Artemi Panarin recorded three assists. Mika Zibanejad also had a three-point night with a goal and two assists. Cole Caufield scored two of the three goals for the Canadiens. It was a heavily offensive night, but Jonathan Quick picked up another win in goal for the Rangers, moving his record to 13-4-2 by making 31 saves in his fourth straight win. Sam Montembeault was the losing goaltender stopping 24 of 31 Ranger shots. The first period saw the Rangers outshoot the Canadiens 10-9, but it was Montreal who broke the ice. After Josh Anderson let a shot go that was stopped by Jonathan Quick, Jake Evans banged home the rebound to give Montreal a 1-0 lead at 14:29. While New York came out of the first 1-0, they also lost forward Blake Wheeler to injury earlier in the frame. After getting involved in a tie-up with Jayden Struble, Wheeler fell awkwardly on his back. The forward was helped off the ice by his teammates and later put on a stretcher. The Rangers got on the board with 8:51 remaining in the second period. K Kreider got it started by ripping a shot home from the slot. Zibanejad worked the puck around a defender, finding Kreider, and received the primary assist, with Trouba earning the secondary. Will Cuylle gave the Rangers their first lead of the night with a strong deflection. The play was quick off the faceoff, won back to Lindgren, who made a D-to-D pass to Fox, who then directed the puck to goal, where Cuylle deflected it in after crashing the net. New York wasn't done, making it 3-1 while shorthanded with a delayed penalty against the Canadiens. Panarin dropped it for Fox, who slid it across for Zibanejad, who fired it past Montembeault. The goal came with 5:17 to go in the second. Kreider tipped in his second goal of the game, the fourth Rangers goal in 4:10 of game time. Panarin took the initial shot, with Fox adding the secondary assist. For Fox, he registered his third assist of the game. The Canadiens were able to get one back when Juraj Slafkovsky sniped his 12th goal of the season over the shoulder of Quick. Cole Caufield had the single assist in what wrapped up the second-period scoring frenzy with 3:30 to go. A chaotic middle frame came to a close with the Rangers leading 4-2. New York registered five more shots than Montreal in the second period and led the game's shot total 25-19. Just 4:23 into the third period, the Rangers were hungry for more goals. Vincent Trocheck threw the puck on the net, where it deflected off Alexis Lafreniere and defenseman David Savard before ending up in the back of the net. Artemi Panarin recorded his third assist of the game with the secondary on the goal. Caufield made it a two-goal game once again with 13:07 left on a power play goal for the Canadiens. He deflected the shot from the point before it was accidentally kicked in by Quick. Kreider made it a hat trick just 1:06 later, tapping in a 2-on-1 pass from Zibanejad. For Kreider, it's his sixth career hat trick and 27th goal of the season. Jimmy Vesey picked up the secondary by getting the play started. Kappo Kaako made it 7-3 on an incredible solo move with 10:04 to go. Fox added his fourth assist of the game, with Cuylle tallying the secondary. Kaako made a defender miss before slipping it through the five-hole of Montembault. Caufield scored his second goal of the game by finding open space in the slot and wristing it low glove side on Quick. It came with 8:33 remaining and made the score 7-3. Slafkovsky and Guhle assisted. UP NEXT: The Rangers hit the great outdoors to face the Islanders Sunday at 3 PM at MetLife Stadium for the 2024 NHL Stadium Series.
