Benoit Pouliot gets a shot on Carey Price, who stopped all 41 en route to a 1-0 shutout.
Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press

The final game of the regular portion was well played between two teams headed to the playoffs which begin next week. Both the Rangers and Canadiens battled hard for 60-plus minutes. They fought for every inch with neither goalie budging. A penalty shot goal at 2:04 of overtime from Montreal captain Brian Gionta allowed the Habs to prevail 1-0 giving Carey Price a 41-save shutout.

That spoiled a stellar effort from Cam Talbot. In what likely is his final start unless something unexpected happens to Henrik Lundqvist, the unflappable backup again showed why he probably could be a starter elsewhere. He stopped the first 26 shots until Raphael Diaz tripped up Gionta from behind leading to a crowd pleasing penalty shot. Facing a shooter he was unfamiliar with, Talbot stayed too far in his net allowing Gionta to beat him with his bread and butter backhand deke top shelf.

Despite falling to a more desperate team who needed the two points to vault them back over the idle Lightning into second in the Atlantic, the Rangers gave a max effort. In fact, it was much better than the previous two wins against inferior competition. Despite sitting out Dan Girardi, Ryan McDonaugh and Martin St. Louis, they peppered Price throughout forcing the Vezina candidate to make some good stops. He played like an elite goalie and saw everything. Remarkably, he’s yet to start a back-to-back all year. Montreal coach Michel Therrien wanted to keep him fresh. Price will need to be at his best against Tampa Bay. The Habs have 100 points, which is one more than the Lightning, who finish tomorrow at Washington. A win gives them home ice.

After the Flyers defeated the Pens on an overtime goal from former Islander Mark Streit, the Blue Jackets used a Ryan Johansen power play goal to edge the Panthers 3-2. With Columbus prevailing, they finish fourth in the Metro and earned the first wildcard. They’ll face the Pens in the opening round. As we already know, the Rangers and Flyers face off beginning Thursday at MSG. The official playoff schedule doesn’t come out until tomorrow night. In the other Eastern Conference match-up, the President’s Trophy winning Bruins will battle the Red Wings. So, every first round series is set. We’ll have more on that in another post.

As for tonight’s game at Bell Centre, what I liked most is how hard the Rangers competed. Despite having little to play for since they were locked into second and home ice, Alain Vigneault’s blue crew tested Price early and often. Until the Canadiens picked it up late, it was our side that outworked Montreal. They outshot the Habs 13-6 in the first and 29-17 thru two before things tightened up.

Each team had three power plays. Though with it being Montreal, a couple of the calls were puzzling. The final playoff tune up wasn’t without edge. A dangerous Derek Dorsett trip on David Desharnais prompted an immediate response from Francis Bouillon, who dropped the gloves. For basically a smallish defensive defenseman, he showed a lot of courage. Dorsett’s penalty wasn’t smart and neither did I like seeing him continue to throw rights after the refs told him to stop.

Of course, it wasn’t over. P.K. Subban went after Dorsett following a whistle repeatedly cross checking him. It should’ve resulted in a Ranger power play. Instead, they somehow gave Dorsett an even up for roughing and threw in an extra 10 (misconduct). Talk about overkill.

There were some near misses for the Rangers. They hit two goal posts including ex-Hab Diaz stepping into a blistering shot that hit both posts fooling the goal judge who put the light on. But the refs got it right. Benoit Pouliot later had a perfect Mats Zuccarello set up but fanned on the shot. That line with Derick Brassard again generated chances but just were a fraction off.

Pouliot was his usual pesky self versus his former team. He makes a lot of good defensive reads. One such instance almost led to an opportunity if not for Alexei Emelin interfering with him leading to a wrestling match with Pouliot also getting nabbed for a hold. He basically had Emelin caught but the physical defenseman reached out. It led to four on four which the Habs dominated. If not for some timely saves from Talbot, they would’ve gone ahead.

Ironically, Bouillon kneed an attacking Zuccarello handing the Rangers a third power play. They just couldn’t solve Price. I felt on all three, they got some good looks but didn’t finish. A lot of that had to do with Price along with a disciplined Habs’ penalty killing unit. A mysterious Carl Hagelin cross check gave Montreal their third man-advantage. They came dangerously close but Talbot held up.

Eventually, a well played contest needed extras. After the Habs controlled the first minute, the Rangers came back with a couple of chances. But a bad miscommunication between Kevin Klein and Diaz led to Gionta pouncing on a loose puck for a clean break. Once Diaz reached out and took him down, the call had to be made. With a rabid crowd cheering loudly, he did the rest beating Talbot to end it.

BONY 3 Stars:

3rd Star-Cam Talbot, NYR (26 saves on 27 shots)

2nd Star-Brian Gionta, MTL (penalty shot OT winner-18th)

1st Star-Carey Price, MTL (41 save shutout)