After spending the first four weeks of the season on the road, the New York Rangers wanted to give their hometown crowd something to cheer about. But it was the visiting Montreal Canadiens who came away with two points Monday night in the Rangers' home opener at Madison Square Garden. From the onset, it appeared that this game could come down to a bounce. But it was the Canadiens who got the bounces when it mattered most. When the Rangers did get a bounce, goaltender Peter Budaj was there. Budaj made 27 saves for the shutout and Tomas Plekanec scored the winning goal on the power play to lead the Canadiens to a 2-0 victory. Alex Galchenyuk also scored a late insurance marker, but it was the Canadiens’ backup goaltender who made the most of his rare opportunity. Budaj outdueled Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist, who made 25 saves in his first start in nine days due to an undisclosed injury. The Rangers carried the play early, outshooting Montreal 5-1 in the opening eight minutes, with the Canadiens blocking an additional five shot attempts in that span. Chris Kreider had the first quality scoring chance for New York less than two minutes into the game, when he pounced on a rebound off a John Moore point shot. But Budaj got just enough of the puck to send it caroming off the crossbar. In a tight-checking affair that saw both teams do a good job blocking passing and shooting lanes, the opportunities to break open the game were few and far between. Through 20 minutes, Montreal and New York actually combined for almost as many blocked shots (13) as shots on net (14). Kreider again figured in a quality chance with less than seven minutes remaining in the second period.
The 22-year-old forward beat Francis
Bouillon to a loose puck behind the Montreal net and quickly fed
Derek Stepan
in front. But Budaj kept the game tied with a quick kick save. The
teams combined for 11 power-play opportunities, and Montreal took
control of the contest by striking first with the man advantage. With
3:26 remaining in the second and Brian
Boyle serving a roughing penalty, rookie Michael
Bournival's soft pass sent Plekanec storming towards the Rangers’
net down the left wing. It was a quick sequence of passes from Andrei
Markov to Brian
Gionta to Bournival that momentarily broke down the New York
defense. And the slightest of backhand passes provided an open lane
for Plekanec, who went to his backhand to beat a sprawling Lundqvist
for his team-leading sixth goal of the season. The Rangers appeared
to have a prime opportunity to tie the game on the power play early
in the third. Once again, a potentially pivotal play came down to the
slightest detail. Derrick Brassard was left speeding down the wing
all alone following a collision at the Canadiens' blue line. But the
collision was precipitated by Kreider catching a piece of Raphael
Diaz's skate on the play, earning Kreider an interference
penalty.
Trailing 1-0, the Rangers found some space with
four minutes remaining in regulation. But Budaj stopped Mats
Zuccarello on the doorstep off a Rangers rush. Moments later,
Galchenyuk earned an important insurance marker following some great
work by Brenden Gallagher and a cross-crease feed from Lars
Eller. The puck went in off Galchenyuk's skate and replay
officials ruled that there was no distinct kicking motion on the
play. The Canadiens, who host the Dallas Stars on Tuesday, have now
won four straight against the Rangers and have not lost to New York
since March 30, 2012. The night ultimately belonged to Budaj, who
appeared sharp despite not having played in almost three weeks. In
his two starts this season, he has allowed one goal and stopped 54 of
55 shots. NY Rangers, simply never created enough real scoring
chances and their power-play was embarrasing.
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