Hockey

The Habs blow a 3-0 lead to lose to the Rangers
Jonathan Di Gregorio
The Habs blow a 3-0 lead to lose to the Rangers
Credit: DansLesCoulisses.com

Tonight, the Canadiens complete their two-game road trip with a visit to Madison Square Garden to take on the Rangers.

Here's the starting line-up for both teams:

The Rangers started the game strongly, but Jacob Fowler made sure to close the door on the home team.

It wasn't until the twelfth minute of the first that the Habs got their first shot, but the wait was worth it as Zachary Bolduc scored on that first throw with help from Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield.

Less than two minutes later, Arber Xhekaj scored his first of the season on the Habs' second shot. Both Alexandre, Carrier and Texier earned assists on the play.

Then, it was Jake Evans' turn to get on the scoreboard with the help of Lane Hutson and Joe Veleno.

Unfortunately, the Canadiens' excellent start was marred by a Hutson penalty, his first of the season, which allowed the Rangers to open the scoring.

Noah Laba beat Fowler to score his fifth of the season with the help of Will Cuylle and Conor Sheary.

Then, Artemi Panarin got a penalty shot late in the period with which he scored the home team's second goal.

3-2 to the Habs after one period.

Although the visitors failed to capitalize on an early powerplay, Josh Anderson scored his club's fourth goal. Huston and Suzuki also picked up assists.

However, the Canadiens were back to their bad habits, giving away two quick goals in just 35 seconds to their opponents.

First, Will Cuylle foiled Fowler with help from Matthew Robertson and Noah Laba.

Then, captain J.T. Miller tied the game, while Robertson and Sheary picked up their second assists of the game.

These two goals seemed to dampen the spirits of the visitors, who were far less convincing for the rest of the period.

Tied 4-4 after 40 minutes of play.

It was the Rangers who had the best chances at the start of the third period, and although they thought they had taken the lead for the first time in the game in the third, the goal was disallowed.

The Canadiens began to look more convincing midway through the third period, but couldn't take the lead, and neither could the Rangers.

The game went into overtime.

After the two teams traded scoring chances, the Habs were unfortunately awarded a penalty that allowed the Rangers to take the victory thanks to J.T.'s second goal of the game. Miller's second goal of the game.

Once again, the Habs' two quick goals showed that the Habs' defensive shortcomings weren't just due to poor goaltending, and that the club must learn to avoid these mental errors that too often turn into goals for their opponents.

The Canadiens were lucky to pick up a point tonight when those two goals could have really hurt the team, and although Fowler didn't have a great game, he made sure to give his team a chance to stay in the game.

Next up for the Habs is Sunday night's visit of the Oilers and Connor McDavid at the Bell Centre.


Overtime

– Another achievement for Lane Hutson.

– Two goals in 34 seconds for Vasily Podkolzin.

– What a game!

– Tic-tac-toe.

– Nice.

– 1000 games for Tyler Seguin.

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