Rangers Vs. Canadiens: Rangers Top Canadiens 5-3, Win Third Straight
The New York Rangers topped the Montreal Canadiens tonight in New York, and extend their win streak to three. Just four minutes in, things got ugly real quick. Mike Blunden stepped off the Canadiens bench for a line change, and crushed Brandon Dubinsky with a questionable open ice hit. Ryan Callahan took exception to the hit, and went right after Bluden.
After all was said and done, there was a total of 30 penalty minutes handed out, including two game misconducts for Michael Sauer, and Petteri Nokelainen. The Rangers were than awarded a 5-on-3 power play from the resulting penalties. Just 40 seconds later, Erik Christensen netted his first goal this season, and put the Rangers on the board first.
The Rangers didn't stop there, they added two more goals coming from Dan Girardi and Michael Del Zotto. The play that setup Del Zotto's goal was pure insanity. Artem Anisiov dished the puck over the Derek Stepan, who threaded the needle to the streaking Del Zotto. A nifty play, and it put the Rangers up 3-0 heading into the locker rooms. It's also worth noting that the Canadiens were held to just three shots the entire first, and the Rangers had 16 shots.
Follow after the jump for more.
The Canadiens came out in the second period fired up, and basically turned the shot count upside down. As a result, there were rewarded with two goals coming from
Andrei Kostitsynand
Max Pacioretty. The Rangers seemed out of it until
Brad Richardsabsolutely picked the corner on
Carey Price, and gave the Rangers the insurance goal back.
With just under two minutes left, Carey Price left the ice for the extra attacker, and Brian Gionta cashed right as he hit the bench. In a last ditch effort, the Rangers resorted to blocking everything towards Henrik Lundqvist. Although, Hank did bail them out a few times after that. Ryan Callahan was able to find corral the puck and shoot it on the gaping empty net.
The Rangers went on to win their third straight game, and will looked for four straight against the Winnipeg Jets tomorrow night. We'll be adding some new spice to our game recaps, and you'll find tonight's three stars, along with the "Broadway Hat" recipient. Enjoy!