Saturday night at the Bell Centre in Montreal the Rangers did not look past a struggling opponent or ahead to Sunday’s crucial divisional showdown against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Madison Square Garden. Instead they took care of business, beating the Canadiens 5-2, to pick up another two points in the standings and remain four points clear of the Penguins in the battle for second place in the Metropolitan Division.
“It was crucial for us to keep our focus,” said goaltender Antti Raanta, who made 24 saves while earning his sixth win in his last seven starts. “It was nice to win 5-2 than 2-1 like always. It was nice to get some goals, and the team looked confident.”
The win was the third in a row for the Rangers following last week’s 1-1-1 road trip to California. It was also their first this season in three tries against the Canadiens, who had outscored New York 8-1 in winning the first two games of this season series.
However the Canadiens of March are not the same team as the one which beat the Rangers back in October and November. Playing without injured star goaltender Carey Price and former Norris Trophy-winning defenseman P.K. Subban, among other notables, the Canadiens had trouble most of the game Saturday simply keeping up with the Rangers, who never trailed in this contest.
Chris Kreider scored twice and added an assist, while Derick Brassard notched a goal and two assists and Derek Stepan (1-1-2) registered two points in the win. J.T. Miller also scored for the second straight game, and the team netted two power play goals for the second consecutive match.
“The end of the regular season is in sight and certainly everyone knows where everyone else is in the standings so every game is huge, every game is pivotal,” said Kreider, whose two-goal effort was his second of the season.
It took only 3:04 for Miller to record New York’s first even strength goal in six-plus periods this season against Montreal. After Stepan was leveled by an Alexei Emelin check, he dusted himself off, returned to the play, and eventually sent Miller off on a dash the other way with as quick pass. Miller did the rest, making a terrific fake before beating Canadiens goalie Mike Condon between the pads with a backhand shot while cutting across the crease for his 21st of the season.
Montreal did manage to tie the game at 12:26 when Lars Eller picked up a puck in the slot and rifled it past Raanta after Ryan McDonagh had blocked a shot from the blue line by Montreal’s Greg Pateryn.
However the Rangers exploded for four goals in the second period to comfortably pull away from the Canadiens. Kreider had a hand in New York’s first three goals of the period, notching three points in a game and in a single period for the first time in exactly one year–having also done so during the first period of a March 26, 2015 contest against the Ottawa Senators.
Just 1:32 into the second Brassard buried his team-leading 27th goal of the season, collecting a rebound off the back boards after Kreider’s redirect went high and wide of the net, though still earning him an assist. .
Kreider made it 3-1 at 8:19 by sniping a right-circle one-timer off a gorgeous cross-ice pass from Brassard. The goal came during New York’s first power play of the game. Keith Yandle also assisted on the goal, his second of the night, fourth in the past two games, and team-best 39th of the season.
Two minutes later Kreider stole the puck at center ice and took off on a breakaway, speeding away from everyone, before closing with a pretty finish for his second goal of the period and 18th of the season at 10:42.
“He’s a big piece to our team,” Stepan said of Kreider. “He’s so powerful, and his speed…it’s so tough to defend against him when he skates the way he does. He was a big part of our win tonight.”
After a Phillip Danault goal pulled Montreal back to within 4-2 at 15:38, Stepan roofed a power play backhand shot into the cage with 41 seconds remaining in the period to make it 5-2. Stepan’s 18th goal was assisted by Mats Zuccarello and Brassard, who picked up his third point of the night.
“I thought we did a good job performing well in a difficult building to play in,” stated Stepan. “I thought we did a lot of good things tonight.”
New York went 2-for-3 on the power play Saturday and is now 5 for its last 11 with the man advantage the last three games. The Rangers were also a perfect 6-for-6 on the penalty kill, with four of those successful kills coming in the third period.
While Raanta got the job done in Montreal, Henrik Lundqvist will get the start in goal on Sunday when the Rangers host the Penguins at MSG. Pittsburgh, which has won seven of their last eight games overall, hammered the Red Wings 7-2 in Detroit on Saturday.
“That’s like a four-point game, playing them,” said Kreider. “It’s a big one in terms of the playoff race and gauging where we are. Every game down the stretch is important and certainly that one is going to be very important.”
Jim Cerny
BlueshirtsUnited.com
(Reprinted with permission of the New York Rangers)
