Danault gets four points in Canadiens win against Rangers

MONTREAL -- Phillip Danault had two goals and two assists for his first four-point NHL game in a 5-4 win for the Montreal Canadiens against the New York Rangers at Bell Centre on Saturday.
Danault's second goal, at 9:37 of the third period, put Montreal up 5-4. Paul Byron, Alex Galchenyuk and Max Pacioretty scored for the Canadiens, who led 3-0 after the first.

Carey Price made 22 saves for Montreal (3-7-1), which finished a 2-1-0 homestand after losing seven straight (0-6-1), its longest losing streak since 1939-40.
"It was probably one of our best games," Danault said. "We were hungry and we worked for our bounces too. We had a couple of bounces but we worked very hard and more than them, so it was a great game overall from everybody."
WATCH: [All Rangers vs. Canadiens highlights]
New York overcame a 4-2 deficit to tie it on third-period goals by Mika Zibanejad and Brady Skjei. Pavel Buchnevich and Rick Nash scored in the second.
Ondrej Pavelec made 38 saves in his second straight start for the Rangers (3-7-2), who were outshot 43-26, including 19-2 in the first.
"As a hockey player, your compete level never wants to be questioned, and that was questioned after our first period," Nash said. "So I think we took that to heart and I think we had a good response in the second and the third, but we were a bit too far behind.

Byron put the Canadiens up 1-0 at 7:51 of the first with a wrist shot past Pavelec from the slot for his third goal.
Galchenyuk made it 2-0 at 11:09 with his third goal on Montreal's first power-play opportunity.
Danault increased the lead to 3-0 at 13:15 when he drove to the net to shove in a rebound of Andrew Shaw's shot.
Buchnevich, who scored twice Thursday, made it 3-1 with his fourth goal on a power play at 2:21 of the second. Nash drew New York within 3-2 at 12:20.
Danault, who assisted on Galchenyuk's goal, got his second assist on Pacioretty's third goal at 14:38 of the second period, which put Montreal up 4-2.

Zibanejad drew New York within 4-3 with his seventh goal at 2:25 of the third. Skjei tied it 4-4 at 7:00 with a slap shot from the right point that went in off Montreal's Tomas Plekanec.
"When you're on the ice for the next shift after that, you try to have a good one," said Canadiens right wing Brendan Gallagher, who assisted on Galchenyuk's goal. "It doesn't matter what the score is in the game, you treat it as if it's 0-0 and you go out and compete hard, and we were able to stick with it and get a win."

Goal of the game

Danault's second goal of the game at 9:37 of the third period broke a 4-4 tie.

Save of the game

Pavelec's pad save on Artturi Lehkonen during a Montreal power play at 10:49 of the third period kept the Rangers within 5-4.

Highlight of the game

Danault's first goal of the game at 13:15 of the first was Montreal's third in a span of 5:24.

They said it

"You can't win in the NHL by playing 40 minutes. There's no doubt that our first period there's no compete, no effort. And Montreal came out hard and they totally dominated the first period, so we put ourselves behind the hole 3-0. You can't win that way." -- Rangers coach Alain Vigneault about falling behind early
"We've gone through a lot so although we found a way to win tonight, which was positive, I'm not going to tell you right now that everything is good and that we still don't have some issues with situations that maybe make us a little bit fragile at times. But the positive is we found a way to get that next goal after they tied it up and then we won the game." -- Canadiens coach Claude Julien

Need to know

Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist is tied with Glenn Hall for ninth place in NHL goalie wins with 407. ... The two shots on goal for the Rangers in the first were their fewest in a period this season. They previously had three shots in a period three times. ... It was the first time Montreal led after the first period this season. ... Danault's previous high for points in a game was three (three assists) in a 5-4 win against the Rangers on Jan. 14.

What's next

Rangers: Host the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; SN1, MSG, ATTSN-RM, NHL.TV)
Canadiens:At the Ottawa Senators on Monday (7:30 p.m. ET; TSN5, TSN2, RDS, NHL.TV)