The Rangers opened the scoring three minutes into the game with J.T. Miller picking up the puck in neutral ice with speed, and toe-dragging Andrei Markov out of position to backhand the puck past Mike Condon to give the Rangers a quick 1-0 lead.
Shot attempts were 8-7 in favour of the Rangers by the first commercial timeout eight minutes into the first period.
The Rangers had held the Habs from recording a shot attempt for about three minutes before the second line went to work on the forecheck and turned the puck over, and eventually Lars Eller levelled the score after a shot from the point by Greg Pateryn hit him in the slot and landed at his side which allowed him to fire a clear shot past Antti Raanta to tie the game 1-1.
The Habs were again being held from even attempting shots, with the Rangers having jumped to a 22-10 lead in shot attempts with a few minutes left to play in the first period
The Habs got a powerplay with under three minutes left in the first, but showed no signs of life with the man advantage. Shot attempts were 24-13 in the first period,with the Rangers leading 10-7 in shots on net.
Scoring Summary
| 1ST PERIOD | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 03:04 | NYR | J.T. Miller (21) Backhand shot – ASST: Derek Stepan (26), Keith Yandle (38) | 1 – 0 NYR | |
| 12:26 | MTL | Lars Eller (12) ASST: Greg Pateryn (5), Nathan Beaulieu (17) | 1 – 1 Tie | |
Penalty Summary
| 1ST PERIOD | ||
|---|---|---|
| 17:10 | NYR | Chris Kreider Hooking – 2 min against Lars Eller |
Shots
| PERIOD | NYR | MTL |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | 10 | 7 |
| Total | 10 | 7 |
Team Stats
| CATEGORY | NYR | MTL |
|---|---|---|
| Power Plays | 0/0 | 0/1 |
| PIM | 2 | 0 |
| Faceoff Win % | 61% | 39% |
| Blocked Shots | 2 | 7 |
| Takeaways | 2 | 0 |
| Giveaways | 3 | 11 |
| Hits | 13 | 13 |
