MONTREAL — The Rangers are in no place to be whiffing on winnable video games.
A season-best level streak that reached eight video games Sunday night time, after a 5-4 extra time loss to the Canadiens, isn’t practically sufficient to erase the harm of the Blueshirts’ terrible stretch from the top of November by means of December.
It’s a begin to a much-needed turnaround, however the Rangers know that each level issues.
“We’re playing a lot better hockey and points are good, I think it’s more frustrating when you have the ability to get the two and kind of let that slip away,” stated Adam Fox, who assisted on Chris Kreider’s 4-3 rating on the finish of the second interval. “That’s where the frustration is. It’s always good to get points, I think that’s important, but down the road those extra points are going to be big.”
Patrik Laine was the OT hero for the Canadiens, scoring 3:20 into the additional session after the Rangers led by a objective on 4 separate events all through a bodily matchup in entrance of an at all times passionate Bell Heart crowd.
Montreal by no means let the guests get too far out of attain, and the Rangers didn’t capitalize on their alternatives to pad their lead.
Goalie Jonathan Fast, who made 33 saves within the loss, was denied win No. 400 for a 3rd time.
“He’s been great all year,” Mika Zibanejad stated of Fast, after the Swedish middle notched his first power-play objective since Dec. 11 to make it a 3-2 sport within the second interval. “He gives us a chance to win.”
Careless play within the Rangers’ personal zone within the center body — a development in the course of the ugly 4-15 stretch the workforce is attempting to separate itself from — was pricey.
A Will Borgen turnover led to a Nick Suzuki objective that made it a 3-3 sport on the 15:05 mark.
Despite the fact that Chris Kreider banged house a laser feed from Fox to offer his workforce a one-goal lead heading into the third interval, the Canadiens acquired the higher of the Blueshirts within the third.
Juraj Slafkovsky buried a rebound on the 12:52 mark to tie the sport up for a fourth time, as Montreal outshot the Rangers, 16-6, by means of the ultimate 20 minutes of regulation.
Each groups have been enjoying on the second night time of a back-to-back slate, with the Rangers coming off a 1-0 shootout win over the Blue Jackets on the Backyard on Saturday night time. The Canadiens, however, blew a 3-0 lead and gave up seven unanswered objectives in a loss to the Maple Leafs at house.
Montreal counted because the second of 4 straight groups on the Rangers schedule who’re forward of them within the Japanese Convention wild-card race.
With the victory, the Canadiens leapfrogged the Bruins to drag inside one level of a playoff spot.
The Rangers can solely hope they’re not considering “what if” when trying again on this one in April.
“It’s frustrating,” head coach Peter Laviolette stated. “We’re going into the third interval, we’re up a objective, they’re enjoying effectively additionally. Two groups I feel which were by means of a bit of bit with regard to journey and video games performed, each groups performed laborious. I assumed our guys performed laborious. If I needed to pull again a bit of bit, I want it might’ve been a bit of bit higher most likely at the beginning of the third interval. The primary seven or eight minutes, 10 minutes of the third interval. In saying that, we hit the publish twice within the third, we might’ve put the sport away then, as effectively. It didn’t bounce our means. Two point-blank possibilities in extra time, that didn’t go our means, both.
“It’s tough to leave the points on the table when we’re looking for points, but I thought the guys gave everything especially under the circumstances.”
