Well
The Montreal Canadiens skated onto the ice at Madison Square Garden on Sunday having won 16 of their first 22 games, a feat they last accomplished more than 50 years ago. They also arrived bent on avenging their six-game loss to the Rangers last May in the Eastern Conference finals.
So it appeared that the Rangers would have their hands full.
Turns out that the opposite was true.
Henrik Lundqvist made 21 saves, and his teammates peppered his counterpart Dustin Tokarski with 34 shots as the Rangers dominated and smothered the Canadiens en route to a 5-0 victory.
It was Lundqvist's fourth shutout of the season. For the Rangers, who beat the Flyers, 2-0, on Wednesday, it was the first time since 2003 that they had registered consecutive shutouts.
'It's definitely a confidence builder for us,' said Dominic Moore, who scored the only goal the Rangers would need 9 minutes 44 seconds into the game. 'We just have to continue to focus on getting better with every game. It's a process. Tonight we did a lot of good things.'
Coming off a 2-0 victory at Boston on Saturday, the Canadiens (16-6-1) had no time to rest, while the Rangers (9-7-4) had been off for four days because their scheduled game against the Sabres was postponed as a result of record snowfall in Buffalo.
With extra time to prepare, the Rangers said they were merely anticipating a typical battle against a strong opponent. They came out with purpose and, as occurred the previous time the teams met at the Garden, Moore scored the game's first goal.
Rangers right wing Martin St. Louis, who scored the winning goal in overtime against the Canadiens in Game 4 at the Garden last spring, set up Derek Stepan to make it 2-0 at 35 seconds of the second period, then scored his eighth goal of the season at 15:33. That moved the 39-year-old St. Louis within 2 points of 1,000 for his career.
Carl Hagelin and Rick Nash scored third-period goals to complete the scoring. For Nash, it was his 14th goal of the season. He has registered points in 15 of 20 games.
'The Rangers had a lot of energy compared to us,' Canadiens Coach Michel Therrien said. 'They deserve a lot of credit.'
On May 29, Moore's third-period score was the only one of the game as the Rangers held off the Canadiens to clinch a spot in the Stanley Cup finals. This time, Moore's goal was a product of hard work by the Rangers' fourth line, with Jesper Fast and Tanner Glass assisting. It was the first point of the season for Glass and the first career point for the 22-year-old Fast.
The Canadiens Tokarski, who played most of the series last May after starter Carey Price was injured in the opener in a collision with Chris Kreider, stopped 29 shots.
The game also had the same chippiness last seen in playoff skirmishes between the longtime rivals. The former Ranger Brandon Prust, who broke Stepan's jaw in a collision early in the playoff series, sent Lundqvist flying early in the third, then fought Ranger defenseman Kevin Klein.
The Canadiens won the previous meeting between the teams, 3-1, on Oct. 25. There will be a rematch at the Garden on Jan. 29.
SLAP SHOTS
The Rangers scratched forward Lee Stempniak. ... The injured defenseman Ryan McDonagh (shoulder) skated before the game and could resume practicing with the Rangers this week.
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