Rangers score 3 in 2nd period, top Canadiens for 3rd win in row

MONTREAL --Filip Chytil scored twice, and the New York Rangers won their third straight with a 4-1 victory against the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre on Thursday.

Chris Kreider had a short-handed goal, and Jaroslav Halak made 17 saves for New York (22-12-6), which is 11-2-1 in its past 14 games, including a 5-3 win Tuesday against the Carolina Hurricanes, who lead the Metropolitan Division.
"Sometimes it's hard to go from the top team to the other side, but [Montreal] played great today," Chytil said. "They played hard, and the two points were earned."
Joel Armia scored his first goal of the season, and Jake Allen made 27 saves for Montreal (15-21-3), which has lost seven in a row (0-6-1).
"We don't have a ton of confidence right now, and when you let you one up or two [goals] up, it's strained," Canadiens forward Jake Evans said. "But in the third [period], compared to the last few games, I thought we did a great job and we were taking it to them, and who knows, one more bounce and it's a completely different game."

New York had five shots on goal before forward Evgenii Dadonov got Montreal's first at 16:52 of the first period. The Rangers outshot the Canadiens 6-4 in the period.
"The first period, there wasn't a lot going on," New York coach Gerard Gallant said. "But Montreal came out there and had a really good period and they shut us down a lot and we couldn't get going. There weren't many shots in the first, but I thought in the second we started to get pucks to the net and things started to go our way a little bit."
Kreider gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead at 7:43 of the second period, scoring a short-handed goal on a breakaway after intercepting a pass by Juraj Slafkovsky intended for Arber Xhekaj at New York's blue line.
Braden Schneider made it 2-0 at 12:28 with a wrist shot from the point through a screen by Vincent Trocheck.

Chytil extended it to 3-0 at 13:27 when he scored on a spinning one-timer from the top of the left face-off circle after receiving a pass from Ryan Lindgren.
Armia cut it to 3-1 at 14:46 of the third period, knocking in a bouncing puck at the top of the crease for his first goal since April 11. He had three assists in his first 26 games this season.
"I know I haven't been performing at my best and I've been trying to fix it," Armia said.
Chytil scored an empty-net goal on a power play at 18:50 for the 4-1 final.
"I think for the most part we played a pretty good game," Halak said. "The last five minutes, we knew they were going to kind of push and they got one goal. But the guys kind of stood their ground after that and we got another one. So, it's a nice win for us and a good two points in the standings because I'm pretty sure it's going to be tight until the end of the season."
NOTES:Halak has won three straight starts after going 1-6-1 in his first eight games (all starts). ... Kreider has 247 NHL goals, surpassing Steve Vickers for eighth-most in Rangers franchise history. He has two short-handed goals this season, and five in the past two seasons, following nine NHL seasons (2012-21) without one. … Canadiens forward Nick Suzuki was named to the Atlantic Division roster for the
2023 Honda NHL All-Star Game
. Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin was named to the Metropolitan Division. … New York forward Jimmy Vesey had one assist after agreeing to a
two-year contract
Wednesday. ... Montreal forward Brendan Gallagher did not play (lower-body injury).