Rangers hand Canadiens seventh straight loss with 4-1 victory

MONTREAL — Filip Chytil scored twice as the New York Rangers beat Montreal 4-1 to send the Canadians to their seventh straight loss on Thursday night.

Chris Kreider and Braden Schneider also scored for Rangers (22-12-6), who have won three times in a row. Jaroslav Halak had 17 saves in the win.

Joel Armia was the only goalscorer for Montreal (15-21-3). Jake Allen stopped 27 shots.

“It was a bit of a slow start with not a lot of shots going either way. It may be easier for Carolina to get up and sometimes harder for (Montreal),” Schneider said. “But I can’t take them lightly.

“We knew they liked to clog the middle of the ice, so fast movement was key. We have a lot of talent and people who can do some very special things with the puck.”

After a goalless opening period with a total of 10 shots between the two sides, Kreider broke the ice 7:43 in the second.

Montreal’s worst power play in the league continued to struggle as a misplaced pass from Juraj Slafkovsky was intercepted by Kreider, who cleaned and converted the breakaway.

“We’re not worried about the team we’re playing against,” said Rangers head coach Gerard Gallant. “They came out and plugged the middle of the neutral zone really well. Luckily for us, we scored that first goal and it was great.”

Montreal nearly scored in the 12th minute when Jonathan Drouin tried to put a shot through at the near post but hit the post instead.

Schneider doubled the Rangers’ lead 28 seconds after the Canadiens missed with a point shot into the top corner of the net.

New York didn’t stop there, extending their lead behind Chytil’s 10th of the season just 59 seconds later.

Montreal came out in the third half and created a handful of strong chances early on, but to no avail.

The Canadiens finally put an end to Halak’s shutout bid when Armia hopped on a bouncing puck in the slot at 2:46 p.m. for their first win of the season.

“It’s certainly taken a load off our shoulders,” said Armia. “I know I didn’t do my best and I tried to fix it, but you score and do it again in the next game.”

Chytil added an empty net for his second of the night, with 1:10 to go to seal the win.

“There are a lot of things that are difficult to play against and I think today was a lot better,” said Canadiens forward Jake Evans. “The results are the only similarity (to last season) but everyone is so driven to fix that.”

ALL STAR SUZUKI

Canadiens center Nick Suzuki was named to his second All-Star team Thursday night. The 23-year-old, who will play for the Atlantic Division squad, has 32 points (15 goals, 17 assists) in 38 games this season.

GALLAGHER STILL OUTSIDE

A Canadian side desperately lacking experienced leadership will be without one of their oldest players. Brendan Gallagher is out with a lower body injury. The winger has now missed 14 of the club’s 39 games.

SPECIAL TEAMS WOES

Montreal’s 32nd powerplay failed to capitalize on his two-man superiority but conceded his first shorthanded goal of the year. The Canadians have not scored in nine of their last ten power plays.

Canadiens: Hosts the St. Louis Blues on Saturday.

Rangers: Face the Devils in New Jersey on Saturday.

This report from The Canadian Press was first published on January 5, 2023.

Elias Grigoriadis, The Canadian Press