For most of the first period, it looked like the same old script for the Rangers wearing their centennial jerseys on home ice. Facing another Original Six rival, they got the game’s first five shots on Canadiens rookie goaltender Jacob Fowler.

Despite holding them without a shot for over 12 minutes, the Rangers predictably fell behind on the Habs’ first shot. A Zach Bolduc tap-in from Nick Suzuki. When Arber Xhekaj made it 2-0, Montreal had scored on their first two shots. Jake Evans then finished off a nice pass from Lane Hutson to make it three goals on four shots. At that point, Igor Shesterkin was taking a beating despite some defensive breakdowns that put the Rangers in a 3-0 hole.

Instead of letting it get to them, they showed a lot of character in coming all the way back to post a well-deserved 5-4 win in overtime over the Canadiens at Madison Square Garden.

On a special night in which Sam Rosen emceed the pregame festivities that honored past great Rangers, who were an integral part of the New Garden covering 1967 through 1991, the current roster decided to dig deep like some of those past teams in the 1970s and earn an important win in front of former players and fan favorites. Among the honored guests were Brad Park, Jim Fairbairn, Gilles Villemure, Walt Tkaczuk, Steve Vickers, Ron Duguay, Dave Maloney, John Davidson, Ron Greschner, Nick Fotiu, John Vanbiesbrouck, Brian Mullen, and Pierre Larouche. If I left anyone out, sorry in advance.

Despite falling behind by three, the Rangers hadn’t played that badly. The turning point came while they were on a power play. On a turnover at the blue line, Evans had a shorthanded breakaway that would’ve probably finished them off. However, Vladislav Gavrikov hustled back to apply just enough back pressure on Evans, who missed the shot wide.

Afterward, Conor Sheary and Will Cuylle helped set up a Noah Laba power-play goal that got the Rangers back in it. Laba’s fifth was his first since Nov. 26. He played a key role in the comeback.

Shortly after Laba scored, Artemi Panarin got in the clear for a breakaway. Just as he was about to shoot, Noah Dobson grabbed him to deny the opportunity. A penalty shot was rewarded. Facing a 21-year-old goalie who was playing in his second game two days after winning his NHL debut, Panarin moved in and froze Fowler with a fake before converting the penalty shot to make it a 3-2 game just 19 seconds later. That goal swung the momentum, or so it seemed.

Just over three minutes into the second period, the Canadiens took advantage of a Cuylle turnover to quickly come back in transition and restore a two-goal lead. On the play, Hutson drew Laba which left Josh Anderson open for a one-timer that beat Shesterkin high glove to make it 4-2.

But a few minutes later, Cuylle would redeem himself by banking in a Matthew Robertson rebound off Hutson and Fowler to cut the deficit to one. Laba was given a secondary assist for helping set Cuylle’s ninth up. That gave him a two-point game.

The chaos continued when J.T. Miller steered in a rebound of a Robertson shot to tie the score at four. Sheary picked up his second assist for his first multi-point game of the season.

Despite playing on the second line with Vincent Trocheck and Miller, Sheary has played well since Mike Sullivan moved him back up. It’s hard to criticize it with how hard Sheary’s played. He’s a good skater who always comes back defensively. At least for the time being, he’ll remain on Sullivan’s matchup line.

Once the game was tied, things cooled down considerably. Neither team wanted to make a mistake. That was very evident in a low event third period that saw the Habs and Rangers combine for 10 shots, with each getting five apiece.

It felt like every time the Panarin line was out with Mika Zibanejad and Alexis Lafreniere, they had the puck inside the Habs’ zone. Most of the time, it was Panarin who kept firing long shots from the outside towards Fowler, who was able to make the saves. For the game, Panarin paced all skaters with eight shots and 15 total attempts.

To their credit, the Rangers held Canadiens’ sharpshooter Cole Caufield in check with only a single shot. Even in what wasn’t a well played game defensively, the Montreal top line anchored by Nick Suzuki was limited to just the Bolduc goal back in the first period.

As time wound down, the Canadiens were content to play for overtime. In it, the Rangers were the better team. Following an Evans’ slash Panarin drew that gave them a 4-on-3 advantage, they made it work thanks to some nice teamwork. After taking a pass from Trocheck, Zibanejad whipped the puck across for a wicked one-timer from Miller that was in quickly to give them the satisfying win at home.

A game after their special teams hurt them in a loss to Chicago, the Rangers went 2-for-2 on the power play to come from behind and earn two points. The win allowed them to keep pace with most of the division. The Hurricanes came back and won while the Islanders won. The Flyers earned a point and the Devils won. With 36 points in 33 games, the Rangers remain within striking distance behind Philadelphia and New Jersey for the wild card.

Kreider and Trouba Return Monday

Next up for the Rangers is the Ducks. That’ll mark the return of former players Chris Kreider and Jacob Trouba. Both were key parts of two good teams that reached the Eastern Conference Finals two years apart.

Kreider remains very popular due to all the goals he scored. His natural hat trick is still fondly remembered against the Hurricanes, helping the Rangers advance to the third round in 2024. A core player who was part of five teams that reached the Final Four and played for the Stanley Cup in 2014, he’s still tied for first on the all-time franchise list for most power-play goals (116). Zibanejad trails both Kreider and Camille Henry by two.

Trouba was the Rangers’ captain before things unraveled last year due to a league memo Chris Drury sent out, intending to trade the defenseman and make Kreider available. Eventually, Trouba was rerouted to Anaheim for Urho Vaakanainen and a 2025 fourth round pick. Kreider knew his days were numbered. He was moved last summer for Carey Terrance and a 2025 third round pick. Because Drury was willing to have Anaheim absorb both contracts, he hardly got anything back in return for two good players.

Whatever happens on Monday should be emotional. Kreider’s indicated that he’s treating it as a business trip. But when they show a video tribute, it’ll be interesting to see what his reaction is. He meant a lot to the organization and the fans.