Battle Of Hudson

At least the losing skid is no more. Kaapo Kakko’s power-play goal with 23.5 seconds remaining lifted the Rangers over the Canadiens 4-3 on Saturday afternoon at Madison Square Garden.

They needed Kakko’s last second goal to rescue them from blowing a two-goal lead in the third period. It became necessary because the Rangers opted to sit back and let the Canadiens take control. They allowed one of the league’s doormats to get back in the game by playing passively. It was indicative of how fragile they are.

The Rangers used goals from Vincent Trocheck (goals in two straight) and Mika Zibanejad (first power-play goal of season) to grab a 3-1 lead after two periods. Despite that, they still were allowing the Canadiens to get good scoring chances. In fact, the Habs had the better of the play for most of the second. A phantom call on Josh Anderson allowed Zibanejad to cash in to make it a two-goal game with 2:57 left in the period.

Jonathan Quick was a big reason why they led by two after 40 minutes. Making the start for Igor Shesterkin, who got a much-needed day off to prepare for the much better New Jersey Devils on Monday, Quick was superb in the middle stanza. Of the Habs’ 13 shots at five-on-five, 10 were considered high danger scoring chances. Quick stopped 14 in total, including an early one on a Montreal power play.

It wasn’t so much that the Rangers played poorly. They got 12 shots in a scrappy period that featured several players coming together during a scrum. To their credit, they played the game with much more intensity than any of the past five.

Looking to provide an early spark, Jacob Trouba asked Anderson to fight less than two minutes into the contest. The captain took a beating from the very willing Anderson, who landed several clean shots during the bout. Seeing Trouba sacrifice himself was appreciated by the entire Rangers bench. They saluted him when he returned from serving the five-minute major.

Unlike the recent stretch, it was all Blueshirts for most of the first period. On a day when they welcomed back Filip Chytil and Chris Kreider, coach Peter Laviolette mixed up his top three lines. Chytil was featured between Artemi Panarin and Will Cuylle. Trocheck played with Alexis Lafreniere and Brett Berard. The third line was comprised of Zibanejad, Kreider, and Kakko. Prior to the game, Laviolette decided to healthy scratch Reilly Smith. His last couple of games weren’t good enough. So, he came out of the lineup along with Jonny Brodzinski. Sam Carrick and Jimmy Vesey played with Adam Edstrom on the checking line.

Laviolette also stuck with the new defensive pairs he used for the remainder of the 3-2 loss to the Hurricanes on Nov. 27. Aside from Ryan Lindgren staying with Adam Fox, K’Andre Miller and Braden Schneider worked together on the second pair. Zac Jones and Trouba made up the third pair.

Gaining some momentum from the Trouba fight, the Rangers had eight of the first nine shots. Although they didn’t score right away, they played with more urgency. In a shocking discovery, they learned that playing in the offensive zone can lead to an opponent taking penalties. On a good forecheck, Kreider kept skating until Emil Heineman grabbed him from behind. That put them on the power play.

With a minute left on the five-on-four, Mike Matheson airmailed a puck out of play to hand the Rangers a two-man advantage. On the five-on-three, Panarin beat Sam Montembeault for his team-leading 13th at 9:02. Fox and Zibanejad picked up assists. The power-play goal was due to Kreider doing his job. He provided a perfect screen in front. Montembeault never saw Panarin’s shot that went high glove inside the bar. In his first game back, Kreider had a positive impact.

For the first time in a while, the Rangers played from in front. The problem was they continued their bad habit of leaving the slot exposed. It took less than three minutes for the Habs to even the score. On some sustained pressure, Juraj Slafkovsky moved the puck to Brendan Gallagher, who then found a pinching Matheson for a goal. It was a coverage breakdown. Lafreniere never skated towards the middle to take Matheson. He puck watched. As good an offensive player as he is, the same cannot be said for his defensive awareness. It’s getting frustrating watching him not backcheck.

Later in the period, Trocheck took one of those undisciplined penalties when he high-sticked Christian Dvorak. Fortunately, the penalty kill got it done. They limited the Canadiens to one shot, which Quick handled. Trocheck made up for it by scoring a big goal to beat the buzzer.

On a good pinch from Lindgren, he kept the puck in and got it over for Lafreniere. With time winding down, he let go of a wrist shot that Trocheck tipped in with less than four seconds remaining to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead headed to the locker room.

The second period had a lot of action. On a play in the neutral zone, Canadiens defenseman Arber Xhekaj delivered a late knee on knee hit on Lafreniere that knocked him down. He’d already moved the puck when Xhekaj came in with the questionable hit. It was a dirty play. It didn’t take long for an incensed Carrick to respond. He tried to engage Xhekaj, who ducked the challenge by diving to the ice. Carrick wound up with the only penalty. It was pretty gutless.

Quick made a single stop with the Rangers shorthanded. He came up with a couple of better ones with both teams back at full strength. He was sharp throughout the period. When the Canadiens threatened at five-on-five, Quick delivered the big saves. He remains more consistent than Shesterkin up to this point of the season. We’ll see if Igor can turn it on in his birthday month.

The Rangers also created some good chances. Berard was denied on a wraparound by Montembeault. That’s the second time he’s used his speed to get around the net to make a bid for a goal. In his NHL debut, a similar play led directly to Zibanejad setting up Cuylle for Berard’s first point. Lafreniere sent a shot wide on a rebound.

Panarin came close a bit later when he hit the crossbar by trying to beat Montembeault short side from a sharp angle. Following a Montembeault save on a Panarin deflection, Panarin had some words for the Canadiens goalie during a stoppage.

The Canadiens almost tied it. Following a Quick save on Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki rang one off the crossbar. The back and forth play continued. After Montembeault stopped Lafreniere, Quick robbed Anderson and Kirby Dach in front on consecutive chances. He’d later deny Slafkovsky, who of course got another dangerous chance from directly in front.

Still hanging onto a one-goal lead, the Rangers got a break when Anderson was sent off for a dubious roughing minor. The replay showed that he gave Lindgren a shove. He didn’t even punch him. It was an atrocious call.

On the power play, Zibanejad took a Panarin feed and faked a shot before firing a pea past a screened Montembeault to make it 3-1 with 2:57 remaining. It was again Kreider who provided the dirty work. That made it easy for Zibanejad to finally get his first power-play goal of the season. He is up to five goals in 23 games. That number needs to increase dramatically in December.

With 1:26 left in the second, Quick shut down Dach on a wrap-around. Dach then shoved Zibanejad in the crease after the whistle. That caused a fracas. Zibanejad responded. So did Lindgren. Most notably, Quick got right in Dach’s face and punched him. During the scrum, Slafkovsky received a double minor for roughing. David Savard got two for roughing. Xhekaj also earned two for roughing. Ironically, it was the much smaller Berard who went after him. The crowd loved it. When Quick’s name was announced, they roared with approval.

Out of all the things that have happened at The Garden, that was the loudest the building sounded. The Rangers haven’t provided enough reasons for fans to get excited. They played with emotion and got a positive response.

Despite leading by two, it wasn’t a comfortable margin. With how they play, everyone knew better. The Canadiens got the message from coach Marty St. Louis. They came out and played a great third period.

With the Rangers back on their heels, Kreider failed to clear the zone. Instead, the Habs kept the puck in. Suzuki then passed down low for Caufield, who looked away before firing a quick shot through Quick’s wickets to cut it to one with 15:44 left. It was one he should’ve had. Caufield made a good play by looking pass. Miller went down to prevent it. He left the shooter for Quick, who was visibly frustrated with himself for not making the save.

When they did attack, it wasn’t for too long. Cuylle was stopped by Montembeault. He’d later stop Chytil to keep the deficit at one.

As the period moved along, the Canadiens kept coming. Eventually, their persistence got rewarded. Sensing that his big line had another goal in them, St. Louis kept sending them out every other shift. The move paid off.

This time, Cuylle failed to get the puck out. Chytil came up high to provide help. However, he never recovered in time on Suzuki’s tying goal. Taking a Caufield feed, Lane Hutson centered for a cutting Suzuki down low for a tip-in that tied it with 3:53 left in regulation. On the goal, Miller went to Caufield when he was already occupied. Schneider was in the wrong spot. Chytil’s diving attempt was too late to prevent the Suzuki goal.

With all the momentum, it looked like the Habs would find a way to win it in regulation. Both Suzuki and Caufield missed on dangerous opportunities. If either connect, we could be talking about a sixth straight loss without a point.

Instead, Dach took an undisciplined high-sticking double minor when he bloodied Zibanejad with 2:26 remaining. That was all the Rangers needed to pull it out late.

Following some great hustle from Chytil to keep a loose puck in at the blue line, Jones passed it down low for Cuylle in front. Instead of shooting, he had his back turned and made a no-look pass that Kakko buried upstairs with a one-timer at 19:36. The crowd erupted. It was a huge goal. Kakko deserved it. He’s worked hard. It was nice to see him get rewarded. The second unit got it done.

When the buzzer sounded, you could sense the relief. It didn’t matter that they won ugly. They needed these two points any way they could get them. It shouldn’t have been such a struggle to beat the Habs. However, it was their first back-to-back of the season. That might’ve been a factor. The third was far from good enough. They got lucky.

The positive is that they scored three times on the power play. The negative is that they continue to struggle at five-on-five. Montreal outscored them 3-1 and doubled them up in scoring chances (27-13). High danger chances were 15-6. None of this is good.

Will they be ready for the Devils in two nights? The Devils gave up six goals to the Capitals in a wild 6-5 loss at home. You know they’ll come out firing. They’re a good team that can explode offensively. If the Rangers make the same mistakes against them, they’ll get run out of the building. It’ll be an interesting test. We’ll see if they pass.