First period
- It looked like Brandon Gignac had consecutive goals for the Canadiens, but the referre waved it off for a high stick as Gignac knocked it down from high in the air first. Was the puck above his shoulder? Hard to tell from the isometric view that was shown on the replay.
- Then Jayden Struble is called for a penalty seconds after that call, so it’s been a wild swing of momentum in the last few seconds.
- Either Montreal’s penalty kill looked really good or the Rangers’ power play looked really bad, the Struble is freed without experiencing much stress as he watched the play.
- Juraj Slafkovský comes close to extending his point streak to seven games, but Jonathan Quick made the stop on a point-blank chance.
- Blake Wheeler is seriously injured as his skate got caught in a rut as he went down on a hit from Struble.
- Considering that the Rangers have been a very good five-on-five team, especially lately, this is a very good start for Montreal.
- Right after typing that, Arber Xhekaj is responsible for a turnover behind his net, and the Rangers get a scoring chance. Samuel Montembeault makes the save, however.
- Xhekaj makes up for the error by setting up a chance at the other end before his shift comes to an end.
- The Canadiens get their deserved goal, and it comes off the stick of Jake Evans. He has goals in back-t-back games.
- Suddenly several players are starting to score in strings.
- Montreal exits a great period with a 1-0 lead. A few mistakes in their own zone, but Montembeault calmed those sequences down with easy saves.
Second period
- Slafkovský does need to work on his puck-protection skills. He can use his body to shield players away much better on his transitions.
- The teams are trading some zone time, but the Canadiens are doing very well to keep the Rangers on the perimeter.
- The Evans line is the best one tonight. Tanner Pearson nearly makes it 2-0 on a shot that Quick just squeezes before his slips through his pads.
- Kaiden Guhle limps to the bench after being down for a few seconds. Hopefully that’s nothing serious.
- He’s back on the ice. Just some temporary pain.
- Chris Kreider is stopped on a breakaway by Montembeault. But then the Rangers forward scores later in the shift to tie things up. That was the loosest the Habs have played all game, and it cost them.
- It’s Caufield’s turn for a breakaway. A quick glove from the goaltender of the same name denies the shot.
- The Rangers are getting a few more shots now.
- And a goal for Will Cuylle to make it 2-1.
- Montreal gets a power-play chance now. A needed break in the pressure at the very least. Ideally a tying goal.
- New York is very aggressive on the penalty kill, attacking Montreal’s half-wall player. You can see why they rank fifth on the PK.
- On a delayed call, the Rangers make it 3-1. A disastrous sequence from the Canadiens in the latter half of this period.
- Martin St-Louis challenges for goaltender interference, the challenge is unsuccessful, and now the Rangers will have a power play.
- 4-1 Rangers. Kreider gets the tip in front, which is his break and butter.
- Slafkovský steps into the slot and absolutely rips a shot past the glove of Quick. The top line had done very little all night, but have stanched the bleeding for now.
- That’s a seven-game point streak for Slafkovský, which is the longest ever by a teenager in franchise history.
- Suzuki skates right past the pad of Quick, goes down, and gets a call. A veteran move there.
- The top line has decided that it’s going to be a factor in this game.
- The power play has upped its tempo to match the intensity of the Rangers, and is earning some looks.
- It all comes to an end as Pearson runs a pick in a brief shift for the second unit.
- The Habs recovered a bit from their tailspin, but they’re in a very different spot after 40 minutes than they were after 20.
Third period
- Montreal stays aggressive and kills off the final minute of Pearson’s penalty, with some time in the offensive zone to boot.
- The Rangers score on another tip shot in the low slow. It doesn’t look like there will be a comeback in this game.
- Montreal will now get another chance on the power play for a delay of game call.
- The Rangers are really doing well to stop cycles on the boards.
- Caufield gets buried at the side of the crease, but I think his mere presence caused Quick to kick out his pad and have the puck go in off it.
- And Kreider has a hat trick on a goal off the rush. A pinch by Xhekaj trying to make it a one-goal game ends up making it a three-goal deficit instead as he didn’t get the required support.
- Johnny Kovacevic gets caught in a Grand Central turnstile, and Kaapo Kakko walked past his contorted form to make it 7-3.
- That’s a nice job of puck-protection from Slafkovský. He sets up Caufield for a goal, which is either his first or second of the game.
- Montreal is earning some power plays late. They’re probably not going to tie this up, but it’s nice to see that they didn’t completely give up.
- The game ends 7-4 with the Canadiens working hard for a fifth goal, and that’s a commendable effort at least.
EOTP 3 Stars
3) A simple timeout there to calm everyone down might have made this a different game
2) Well the good news is Slafkovský has already surpassed him
1) Strobe glasses for everybody!
