The Canadiens ended their nine-game losing streak and avoided losing 50 in regulation time for the first time in their history.
Jeff Petry gave the Habs the lead for good by scoring his second goal of the game in the last minute of play in the third period and the Montreal team defeated the New York Rangers 4-3 on Wednesday at Madison Square Garden.
The Canadiens will try one last time to avoid reaching the 50-game regular loss plateau on Friday, when they conclude their campaign by hosting the Florida Panthers at the Bell Centre.
Ryan Poehling, who was back in the lineup, and Mike Hoffman also scored for the Canadian (21-49-11). Samuel Montembeault made 24 saves.
Ryan Reaves, Frank Vatrano and Ryan Strome replied for Rangers (51-24-6). Alexandrar Georgiev stopped 17 shots.
Mathieu Perreault had given way to Poehling in the formation of the Canadian.
Forwards Andrew Copp, Artemi Panarin, Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider, as well as defenders Adam Fox, Ryan Lindgren and Jacob Trouba had been given a night off at Rangers. The latter are guaranteed to end the season in second place in the Metropolitan section.
The cat and the Mouse
After a very brief tribute to Guy Lafleur, who played a season with the Rangers when he returned to the game in 1988-89, the two teams seemed to lack a bit of cohesion at the start of the game.
Georgiev was the first goaltender to be challenged, but he made the save against a good one-timer from Rem Pitlick.
The Canadian finally opened the scoring with 1:15 to go in the first period. Poehling hit the mark with a one-timer after a nice snap from Michael Pezzetta from behind the net.
The second period was the affair of the Rangers, who fired nine consecutive shots on goal.
Montembeault was slick against Zac Jones early in the frame but couldn’t do anything at 4:14, when a Reaves shot deflected off Christian Dvorak’s stick before crossing the goal line.
The Canadian finally activated late in the second period. Pitlick just missed the target as he appeared to have a gaping cage in front of him, then Petry swung the ropes with 8.8 seconds left to put the Habs back in front.
The Rangers replied 4:15 into the third period after a series of turnovers from the Habs. Vatrano beat Montembeault with a perfect shot into the upper mitt side.
Hoffman put the Canadiens back in the lead with 7:52 left in regulation time. He beat Georgiev after receiving a perfect pass from Nick Suzuki.
The Rangers, however, had not said their last word. Strome tied the game again with 4:19 left on the clock, shorthanded.
Petry allowed the Canadian to have the last word. He played the heroes with a shot into the top corner with 30.7 seconds left in the final period.