In New York, the Rangers did their usual sleep walk in a game, but kept to a few minutes of the third period, and Igor Shesterkin made 31 saves in a 3-2 win over the visiting Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night.
New York’s Julien Gauthier potted his first marker of the season off a steal in the low slot and backhanded shot on goal while being tripped.
“He’s forechecking better, he’s skating really well,” Rangers head coach Gerard Gallant said. “I think he feels real comfortable playing in the NHL now and over the last number of games you see that. He scored a great goal by working hard.”
The strike gave the Rangers a 3-1 lead.
The Habs dropped to 4-12-2.
Kaapo Kakko struck in the first period to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead. It was the second straight game for Kakko to score.
“I have been waiting for those goals, just going to the net and ‘Bread’ or Strome, they’re going to find me, and I just have to shoot it to the empty net,” Kakko said. “Sometimes it’s so easy like that.”
Christian Dvorak tied the game at 1-1 for the Habs.
“It’s still the same end result,” Montreal’s Jake Evans said. “I do think for the most part we’re playing pretty good hockey and there’s just some mental lapses that cost us against a lot of these teams that have high-end skill and can make tougher plays that you don’t think are there. That’s what’s just been happening lately. Very small and not a lot of mental lapses, but they happen, and I feel they’re scoring on them.”
Chris Kreider gave the Rangers a 2-1 lead off a nifty pass from Mika Zibanejad in the middle frame.
“It’s just clicking right now,” Gallant said. “I thought we played a real good game tonight.”
Josh Anderson made the game tight when he scored 22 seconds after the Gauthier goal.
Cayden Primeau made 31 saves in the Montreal loss, it was his first start of the season for the Canadiens.
“He was confident,” the Canadiens’ head coach Dominique Ducharme said. “He made some big saves. He looked solid. It’s good to see the young guy coming in like that. He’s got a little bit of experience the last couple of years. He knew what to expect and he was ready for it.”
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