It took 11 days but the Rangers finally got back in the win column.
Kappo Kakko scored a power play goal with 22.5 seconds left in the third period to give the Rangers a 4-3 win over the Montreal Canadiens at Madison Square Garden that snapped their five game losing streak.
Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad each had a goal and an assist, Adam Fox had two assists. Jonathan Quick was solid with 25 saves while he notched his 398th career win.
The Rangers got two key players back. Filip Chytil, who missed seven games, and Chris Kreider, who missed three, returned to the lineup, but it was Captain Jacob Trouba who provided a spark with some much needed physicality.
“He’s a leader so I think that was something we needed,” Kakko said. “We’ve been pretty bad lately, that’s how I feel. I mean you gotta do something. He’s our captain, he’s our leader, that’s something to get the guys going and I think that was a good start.”
Trouba brought some early physicality when he fought Montreal’s Josh Anderson less than two minutes into the game. The altercation seemed to energize a Ranger team that had played listless hockey during the losing streak.
“There’s already a lot of energy in the room, I think this kind of puts it over the top to see your leader do that, Kreider said. “Answer the bell like that, step up. That’s what he’s always done for us, I mean it was infectious.”
The Rangers were 3 for 6 on the power play after struggling, not only to score with the man advantage, but even getting power play opportunities recently.
The Rangers blew a 3-1, third period lead as Montreal scored two goals to tie the game but they got a huge opportunity when the Canadiens’ Kirby Dach took a bad penalty in the offensive zone. Dach was assessed a double minor for a high stick on Zibanejad with 2:40 left in the third period and the Rangers took advantage.
The winning goal came after the Rangers won a battle along the right wing boards. The puck came out to Chytil near the blue line but he was able to keep it in the zone. Zac Jones, who had an assist, played it and moved towards the net as he was being checked by Montreal’s Jake Evans.
Jones backhanded a pass towards Will Cuylle who was in front. Cuylle backhanded a pass to a wide open Kakko on the right side of the net and he was able to bury the puck for a huge power play goal that proved to be the game winner.
“I think that was a big one,” Kakko said. “We got the lead before the third period, they scored a couple of goals so that was kinda ugly in the end. Good thing we got the goal and the two points, real big win for us.”
Cuylle continues to be the Rangers best player of late. His assist on Kakko’s goal gave him ten points in his last 11 games.
Chytil did not get on the scoresheet, but the Rangers are a different team with him in the lineup and it showed. Kreider did not dent the scoresheet either but his presence was felt on the power play. The Rangers longest tenured player positioned himself in a familiar spot in front of the Canadiens net and it paid off in the first goal of the game.
“Chris Kreider did an unbelievable job in front of the net on the goaltender’s eyes on both goals. Third one was a little bit different, something that slipped off to the side but a big goal nonetheless so the power play did their job,” said Coach Peter Laviolette.
With Kreider screening Montreal goaltender Sam Montembault, Panarin fired a shot from the top of the left face off circle for his 13th goal of the season and a 1-0 lead at 9:02 of the first period. Fox and Zibanejad assisted on the goal that ended a drought of eight straight games where the Rangers failed to score with the man advantage.
Trouba set an early tone for the Rangers who were determined to get off to a fast start after they were on their heels early in Philadelphia against the Flyers on Black Friday, not to mention the poor first periods they’ve had during the losing skid.
“It was a message from him [Trouba] that he was here to play. Our guys were ready to play,” Laviolette said. “They’ve [Montreal] been playing pretty good hockey like we knew we were going to have a tough game. For our guys to come out, to get into a fight like Jacob did, to get on the attack, to play sharp defensively, to be physical in the battles, it was a good start.
Less than three minutes later, the Canadiens tied the game. Defenseman Mike Matheson found a loose puck between the circles and beat Quick for his second of the season at 11:47 to make it a 1-1 game.
The Rangers retook the lead with less than four seconds left in the first period.
Alexis Lafreniere fired a shot from just inside the blue line and Vincent Trocheck was able to deflect the puck past Montembault for his sixth of the season as he was being checked by David Savard to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead after one.
Zibanejad scored his first power play goal of the season in the second period to make it 3-1 after two.
The Rangers center was set up on the power play in his familiar spot on the left side and took a feed from Panarin. The Ranger center faked a shot and then moved to middle where he wristed one past Montembault for his fifth goal and first power play goal of the season.
The Rangers had tightened up defensively in the first two periods, but defensive breakdowns proved to be costly in the third. “Thought the effort was there the whole game. There were stretches where we had a little bit of trouble at lines and a little bit of trouble breaking out pucks. They’ve got skill and they made us pay for it,” said Kreider.
Early in the third, Kreider turned the puck over in the defensive zone and Cole Caufield capitalized as he fired it past Quick from the left face off circle to make it a 3-2 game.
With less than six minutes left, Cuylle couldn’t clear the puck near the blue line and Nick Suzuki, who always plays well against the Rangers, stunned the home crowd by scoring the game tying goal.
Lane Hutson took a nice touch pass from Caufield and had the puck on the left side where he made a cross ice past to Suzuki who was able to bury it past a helpless Quick to make it 3-3.
The Rangers got off the schneid in the first of a five game homestand. They will hope to build on it Monday night when they host the New Jersey Devils.
The post Canadien Bakin’, Rangers Beat Montreal to End Losing Skid appeared first on NY Sports Day.