New York Rangers defeat Montreal Canadiens 6-3
Rookie Goaltender Henrik Lundqvist turned away 22 shots to reach 30 wins for the sixth straight season, as the New York Rangers thrashed the Montreal Canadiens 6-3 at Madison Square Garden on Friday night.
Ryan Callahan, Marian Gaborik, Dan Girardi and Brian Boyle each lit the lamp in the opening stanza. Meanwhile, Artem Anisimov also scored a goal and an assist for Rangers, who have now won five of their last six games to improve their home record to 17-16-3.
With this victory, the Rangers have 80 points and sit just five-points below sixth-place Montreal Canadiens in the Eastern Conference. More Importantly, New York are four points ahead of the Buffalo Sabres and Carolina Hurricanes.
An excited Girardi said of the Rangers’ five-goal opening frame, "We wanted to start off good at home. The fans really got us going, they were nice and loud and we got off to a great first period."
Defenceman James Wisniewski and Brian Gionta each finished with a goal and an assist while defenseman P.K. Subban also tallied a goal for Montreal.
Wisniewski was disappointed with his side’s performance. He said, "I think you can count the first period as us coming off the plane and not being ready to play. But you can't use that as an excuse because we're professionals. They're fighting for a play-off
spot same as we are."
Goalie Carey Price was benched after allowing five goals on 12 shots for Montreal. Alex Auld replaced him and made 18 saves the rest of the way for Canadiens, who came into the game having won seven of their last nine games.
The Rangers got on the board in the sixth minute of the opening frame when Anisimov netted a goal on a breakaway. However, the Canadiens pulled even less than two minutes later, when defenceman P.K. Subban fired a shot from the high slot that beat the Rangers
net-minder.
With less than 10 minutes to play in the first period, the Rangers restored their lead at 2-1, when Girardi whacked in a rebound off Erik Christensen’s shot for his fourth goal of the season. New York extended their lead to 3-1 with less than three minutes
to play when Callahan’s shot flipped over the flailing goalie.
Gaborik made it 4-1 just 32 seconds later when he wrested a shot inside the right post. Boyle then closed the spurt and extended the Rangers’ lead to 5-1 just 35 seconds later when he finished a 3-on-1 rush by slipping the puck past Price.
In the fifth minute of the middle stanza, Wisniewski made it 5-2 for the Canadiens, when he blasted a shot past Lundqvist for his fourth goal of the season. Montreal got a power-play goal in the first minute of the final frame and Gionta tucked in a rebound
off a shot from Wisniewski to make it a 5-3 game.
Vinny Prospal sealed the victory with less than three minutes remaining when he notched a power-play goal to give the Rangers a decisive 6-3 lead.
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