The Montreal Canadiens had the New York Rangers on the ropes at Madison Square Garden on Saturday afternoon, but the home team snapped their five-game losing streak with a 4-3 win over the Habs.
Recommended Videos
A rough season for Kirby Dach got even worse when the slumping centre took a high-sticking double minor with 2:40 remaining in regulation. Kaapo Kakko responded by scoring the game winner on the power play with 22.5 seconds to go.
In all, the Rangers scored three times with the man advantage, compared with Montreal’s 0-3 on special teams.
The game opened with a callback to the last time both teams faced off. Josh Anderson sought revenge on Jacob Trouba for his hit on Justin Barron, and the powerhorse got it. He pummelled the Ranger captain.
The Rangers led 2-1 after 20 minutes, starting with Artemi Panarin beating Sam Montembeault on the power play with an accurate point shot through traffic.
Mike Matheson returned to the lineup after missing two games with a lower-body injury, and he tied up the game 1-1 with a shot from the high slot.
Habs fans had their hearts broken a couple of times during the matinee game, starting with Vincent Trocheck giving the Rangers a 2-1 lead with just two seconds remaining in the opening frame.
The game got more physical in the second period, starting with Arber Xhekaj sending Alexis Lafrenière back to the bench in agony after a hit near the boards.
Josh Anderson continued to play with intensity, but he landed in the box with a penalty our own Stu Cowan called “one of the worst penalty calls” he has ever seen. You be the judge:
On the ensuing power play, Mika Zibanejad extended New York’s lead to 3-1 with another snipe through traffic.
Perhaps an even more egregious penalty call occurred when a scrum developed after a Dach wraparound attempt on Jonathan Quick. The Rangers returned to the power play because Juraj Slafkovsky was assessed a double minor despite it being an equal-opportunity kerfuffle between the clubs.
In the third period, Montreal pulled to within one when Cole Caufield beat Quick five-hole for his 14th goal in 23 games.
Suzuki and Caufield teamed up on the game-tying goal nearly 10 minutes later, although this time it was Lane Hutson who delivered the slick setup to the captain.
The Rangers came into the game losers of five straight, and in the third period looked fragile. Unfortunately for the Habs, the Dach penalty with 2:40 remaining halted their building momentum. In the dying moments, Kakko sealed the win for the Rangers after a scramble in front.
Say what you want about the controversial penalties to Anderson and Slafkovsky, but a high stick that draws blood is a double minor any way you slice it, and Dach was the perpetrator.
According to Natural Stat Trick, the Habs lead in scoring chances (27-13) and high-danger chances (15-6) by a comfortable margin, but going 0-3 on the power play while conceding three PP goals did them in.
It’s not the norm these days, but have the Canadiens considered putting two defencemen on the top PP unit, namely Matheson and Hutson? They were magical on the tying goal. They also stood atop the team’s report card according to Hockey Stat Cards.
The Liveblog commenters had a lot to say about the officiating, Dach’s struggles and Montreal’s inability to put away a dazed Ranger club.
3. “Yes it was accidental, BUT, there is no scenario where Dach, the worst forward on team, with WORST +/- in entire league (fact) should be on ice with 3 min left.” -Kyle Davidson
2. “Tough loss. Some of the worst refereeing I’ve seen in a long time.” -Warren Brown
1. “You can’t blame the ref when you draw blood in O zone in a tie game with under 5 mins left.” -Johnny Roberts