MTL@NYR: Game recap

NEW YORK - The Canadiens closed out their weekend road trip to New York with a 2-1 win over the Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Sunday.

The Canadiens made some lineup changes for the game. Jake Evans, who left Saturday's game on Long Island with a lower-body injury, didn't dress, and Chris Wideman was scratched. In their place, Mike Hoffman and Michael Pezzetta returned to action.
Sam Montembeault made a fourth straight start - his second in two nights.
Montembeault was sharp in the opening frame, making a number of stops to keep the Rangers' high-powered offense at bay. The Habs netminder turned aside all 14 shots he faced in the first, while Montreal was held scoreless on the 10 shots directed at Rangers starter Igor Shesterkin.

The Habs got on the board early in the second with a power play goal. It followed a shorthanded opportunity by the Rangers, however, but after Jacob Trouba's wrister was stopped by Montembeault, Cole Caufield, Christian Dvorak, and Kirby Dach passed the puck around as they entered the zone before Dach fired a wrister that beat Shesterkin for his eighth of the season.
Dvorak and Caufield picked up the helpers.
The goal, scored at 4:54 of the second, also helped Dach set a new career high in points with 27, and put him in sole possession of the team lead in power play points this season with 12.

Artemi Panarin evened the score for the home side with just under four minutes remaining. The Habs got stuck in their zone while killing off a holding penalty to Juraj Slafkovsky and were unable to clear after returning to even strength, and Panarin capitalized on the extended pressure to net his 12th of the campaign.
With that, the two teams headed to the room tied at 1-1 after 40 minutes. New York outshot Montreal 14-12 in the second stanza.
The Canadiens got their go-ahead goal from none other than Caufield at 8:56 of the third. Nick Suzuki retrieved the puck in the corner of the Rangers' zone and fed Caufield, who flicked it past Shesterkin from the slot. It was Caufield's 26th of the season.
Suzuki and Joel Armia earned assists on the play.

The Blueshirts pulled their goalie in the dying minutes of regulation but the Habs held on for the win.
Montembeault made 38 saves in the winning effort.
The Canadiens headed home following the tilt. They'll face the Winnipeg Jets at the Bell Centre on Tuesday; for tickets to the game,
click here
.