MONTREAL 鈥� On a night when New York's top line was missing in action, the bit players grabbed the spotlight and led the Rangers to a commanding 7-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 the kind of team we have,鈥� said Filip Chytil, who led the Rangers with a pair of power-play goals Tuesday. 鈥淭he guys on the top line had chances but when they don鈥檛 score we have three other lines to pick up the slack."
The Rangers鈥� dominance was reflected in the amount of time they spent in the Canadiens zone and their 45-23 edge in shots.
鈥淚f you鈥檝e watched us practice, you know that鈥檚 something we work on all the time,鈥� said Chytil. 鈥淲hen we get the puck, we want to hold on to it.鈥�
The Rangers grabbed a 2-0 lead on goals by Mika Zibanejad at the 56-second mark and Jonny Brodzinski at 2:05, but it was Montreal which pressed the play in the first minute.
鈥淚 thought we had a good start but they turned it around on us,鈥� said Montreal coach Martin St. Louis.
Lane Hutson controlled the puck off the opening faceoff and had two early shots, both of which were blocked by New York's Jacob Trouba.
鈥淭hat was huge for us,鈥� said Rangers coach Peter Laviolette. 鈥淲e know (Trouba) can generate offence but he can come up with those big defensive plays."
Montreal goalie Sam Montembeault exited at 11:05 of the first period after giving up four goals on 10 shots. Zibanejad, Brodzinski, Chytil and Reilly Smith all scored on the Habs' starter.
His replacement, Cayden Primeau, stopped 33 of 35 shots, giving up goals to Braden Schneider, Kaapo Kakko and Chytil.
Nick Suzuki scored both of the Montreal goals, his first strikes of the season
鈥淚t didn鈥檛 really feel like a 7-2 game until the end there when you look up at the scoreboard,鈥� Suzuki said. 鈥淏ut we obviously keep digging ourselves these holes, and against a good team like that, our details early on have to be really sharp. And we were definitely a little sleepy coming out and they jumped on us.鈥�
Hutson led the Canadiens in ice time with 24:10 but this wasn鈥檛 one of his better games. Smith scored on a breakaway after taking the puck off Hutson鈥檚 stick and the rookie was minus-4 for the night.
After Tuesday's morning practice, the Canadiens announced forward Juraj Slafkovsky will miss at least a week with an upper-body injury. Defenceman Kaiden Guhle missed a second consecutive game with an upper-body injury but the team said it isn't a long-term ailment.
The injury situation didn鈥檛 get any better after Trouba flattened Justin Barron at 7:11 of the third period. Barron didn鈥檛 return to the ice but there was no immediate word on his condition.
The Rangers welcomed back defenceman Ryan Lindgren, who made his season debut after missing five games with a jaw injury.
Before the game, 14 players from the Canadiens' team that won four consecutive Stanley Cups between 1976 and 1979 were introduced at the Bell Centre. Among them were Hockey Hall of Fame members Yvan Cournoyer, Serge Savard, Guy Lapointe, Bob Gainey and Ken Dryden.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22, 2024.
Pat Hickey, The Canadian Press
