Game 75: Montreal Canadiens @ New York Rangers

Start time: 7:00 PM EDT / 4:00 PM PDT
In the Canadiens region: TSN2 (English), RDS (French)
In the Rangers region: MSG
Streaming: ESPN+, RDS, TSN+

When the Montreal Canadiens embarked on this road trip, their playoff position was far from secure. Despite a three-game winning streak, they were just four points clear of the ninth-place team in the Eastern Conference. It was apparent that the next five games outside of Montreal were going to determine how the end of the season would go. They started off versus three teams playing at a high level, three consecutive tests of their playoff mettle.

They didn’t just compete with the Carolina Hurricanes, red-hot Nashville Predators, and resurgent Tampa Bay Lightning, they held those teams to a combined three goals in three regulation wins. A winning record is already locked up on the journey, and they played the most difficult teams to start. At the same time, the teams that had been the greatest threat to Montreal’s playoff standing lost a few games in a row, and now the Habs have a 10-point edge with eight games to play.

The Canadiens had to focus on a couple of teams ahead of them, and after handling that business they now sit closer to top spot in both the division and the conference than they do to even the second wild-card position, no longer needing to glance in the rearview mirror. They do still have to play well versus some of the non-playoff clubs they’ll face over the rest of this road trip however, because the New Jersey Devils, which they will play in a home-and-home set on the weekend, and the New York Rangers tonight have nothing else to play for than to have some say in other teams’ playoff stories.

Tale of the Tape

Canadiens
Statistics
Rangers

43-21-10
Record
31-35-9

48.5% (23rd)
Expected-goal share
49.3% (21st)

3.51 (3rd)
Goals per game
2.83 (25th)

3.09 (21st)
Goals against per game
3.09 (20th)

24.6% (4th)
PP%
24.5% (6th)

77.0% (25th)
PK%
78.5% (19th)

0-1-1
Head-to-Head Record
2-0-0

Cole Caufield (47)
Most goals
Mika Zibanejad (33)

Nick Suzuki (65)
Most assists
Artemiy Panarin (38)

Nick Suzuki (92)
Most points
Mika Zibanejad (70)

The Rangers were officially eliminated from post-season contention by the Toronto Maple Leafs on March 25, but they have been locking things down like the Canadiens have recently, allowing one goal in each of their last three games. Both teams have used that recent form to rise up the defensive ranks, now close to the middle of the pack in goals against at 3.09.

If the Canadiens were hoping to have an easy game and perhaps boost Cole Caufield’s goal total, they won’t find an easy mark in New York City. Even early in the year when the Rangers were losing with regularity, Montreal couldn’t come away with a win. New York scored three consecutive goals in the third period to snap what had been the longest winning streak of Montreal’s season before the current one in early October. Two months later, Montreal blew a two-goal lead in the span of 32 seconds and went on to lose in overtime.

Montreal did just play two of the league’s top defences and managed a total of seven goals, using a combination of speed and support in transition to break down tight coverage. The Rangers have been even better than those two teams at limiting high-danger chances this year, so nothing is going to come easy. It’s best that the Canadiens ignore where their opponent is in the standings and focus on maintaining the level of play they had in Tampa, their best and most playoff-worthy of the season so far.