After a more than disappointing performance against the Buffalo Sabers on Thursday, the Montreal Canadiens posted a much better performance against the New York Rangers in a 4-3 shootout victory on Saturday night at the Bell Centre.
Cole Caufield scored the winning goal by beating Jonathan Quick on the glove side. The CH striker was the only scorer during the shootout period.
CH fans will be able to thank Samuel Montembeault, who had the busiest evening of his career, who stood out with 46 saves. At the very end of the overtime period, number 35 stopped Mika Zibanejad and Jacob Trouba at point blank range to keep his team in the game.
CH certainly didn’t make it easy for themselves, as they had a 3-0 lead midway through the second period.
Brendan Gallagher opened the scoring in the first period with his first goal in 25 games. Upon returning from the first intermission, Sean Monahan and Joel Armia flashed the red light twice in a little over a minute to extend their team’s lead.
The Rangers, however, stepped on the accelerator to get back into the game. The trio composed of Alexis Lafrenière, Vincent Trocheck and Artemi Panarin was at the heart of this comeback for the visitors.
While the last two cities brought the score to 3 to 2 in the second period, Adam Fox brought the two teams back to square one during the third period by beating Montembeault with a wrist shot from the blue line.
Quick stopped 28 pucks for the Rangers.
The Canadian will be back in action on Wednesday against the Flyers in Philadelphia.
SUMMARY
Barrage Shots
Alexis Lafrenière: FAILED
Jesse Ylönen: FAILED
Mika Zibanejad: FAILED
Cole Caufield: GOAL
Artemi Panarin: FAILED
Nick Suzuki: FAILED
EXTENSION
05:00 – End of period.
04:48 – K’Andre Miller receives a penalty. The Canadians will play on the power play.
00:00- Start of the period.
THIRD PERIOD
20:00 – End of period.
1:25 p.m. – Kaiden Guhle receives a penalty. The Rangers will play on the power play.
09:30 – GOAL NYR 3-3 Adam Fox takes advantage of the traffic in front of the net to shoot. Samuel Montembeault can’t do anything about it. His fourth of the season allows New York to tie the game.
00:00- Start of the period.
SECOND PERIOD
20:00- End of period.
17:02 – Nick Suzuki receives a penalty. The Rangers will play on the power play.
14:29 – GOAL NYR 3-2 Vincent Trocheck wins the throw-in. Artemi Panarin takes advantage and scores his 25th of the season. The gap is reduced to a single goal.
10:27 – GOAL NYR 3-1 Vincent Trocheck skillfully redirects Erik Gustafsson’s shot into the goal. His tenth of the season allows New York to get on the scoreboard.
07:38 – Chris Kreider receives a penalty. The Canadians will play on the power play.
02:39 – BUT MTL 3-0 The Canadians added more less than two minutes later. This time, Joel Armia scored the goal. Mitchell Stephens and Michael Pezzetta are accomplices. Montreal takes a three-goal lead.
01:09 – BUT MTL 2-0 The Canadians start the period strong. Sean Monahan takes a shot that ends up behind Jonathan Quick. His tenth of the season gives Montreal a two-goal lead. Jesse Ylönen gets an assist.
00:00 – Start of the period.
FIRST PERIOD
20:00 – End of period.
11:37 – BUT MTL 1-0 Brendan Gallagher opens the scoring with a lively shot. It’s his sixth goal of the season. David Savard and Jake Evans are accomplices. Montreal takes the lead.
07:23 – Kaiden Guhle receives a penalty. The Rangers will play on the power play.
00:00 – Start of the game.
In front of the net
Jonathan Quick Record: 9-2-1 / Goals allowed average: 2.41 / Efficiency rate: 91.7%
Samuel Montembeault Record: 8-5-3 / Goals allowed average: 2.94 / Efficiency rate: 90.3%
Training of coach Martin St-Louis