In playoff rematch, Canadiens snap Rangers’ 3-game win streak

MONTREAL — OK might have been good enough in Newark on Tuesday, but it sure wasn't good enough here Saturday night against the Canadiens.

Because for nearly all of the first two periods in which the story of this 3-1 Montreal victory was written by perhaps the hungrier team, the Rangers were neither quick enough to and with the puck nor strong enough on it.

They therefore spent a noticeable majority of the time chasing at both ends of the ice, more often than not in their own zone against a horde of Canadiens who spent the night creating havoc in front of Henrik Lundqvist's crease.

"We have to find a way to play better under pressure," said Martin St. Louis, who started the night with Mats Zuccarello and Derick Brassard before completing it with Rick Nash and Chris Mueller (or alternately, Lee Stempniak). "We have to play through people.

"Every team forechecks hard. We have to find a way."

The Rangers, 4-4 with the Wild coming up on Monday, have to find the way to play consistent hockey. The three-game win streak that ended here featured only one complete 60-minute performance, that the 4-0 victory over San Jose last Sunday. The Blueshirts just haven't been able to dictate. They didn't come close against the Canadiens, who, according to coach Alain Vigneault, "were the better team in front of both nets."

Lundqvist, under siege all night, was very good while Carey Price, who didn't have to contend with much traffic at all, was equally as good.

"He's always good," Dan Girardi, the Blueshirts' best defenseman by a mile, said of the Montreal goaltender. "Really."

The Blueshirts committed way too many turnovers all over the ice while unable to force the Canadiens into coughing up the puck. Montreal was off to the races. The Rangers were on a slow track until the third, when the Habs backed off a bit after taking a 3-1 lead at 6:35 when Marc Staal, who had a dreadful night, lost Max Pacioretty in front after a Montreal rush seemingly had been negated. But no.
"We have to be very careful with the puck because [if we're not] it feeds their transition," said Lundqvist, beaten twice from right in front and once on a two-on- … uh … zero, shorthanded rush, which began when Ryan McDonagh couldn't get to the puck on a left wall pinch. "It's important to try and get the puck in deep and try to keep the game in front of you.

"It was tough in the second period."

Once again struggling on faceoffs, the Rangers generated little through the first two periods, during which the Carl Hagelin-Dominic Moore-Anthony Duclair unit was the club's best line. The Chris Kreider-Kevin Hayes-Rick Nash combination struggled to gain possession of the puck, with Nash on the ice for just four even-strength attempted shots through the first 40 minutes. The St. Louis-Brassard-Zuccarello unit showed just intermittent flashes but was unable to control the puck down low.

And so in the third, Vigneault switched it up, elevating Mueller or Stempniak, shifting Kreider to the left with Brassard and Zuccarello to thus add some size and muscle to the combination, and sending Hayes — who struggled big time against Montreal's speed — to the fourth line.

Eight games in, the Rangers haven't developed chemistry. Eight games in, Staal and McDonagh have been as much liabilities as assets. Eight games in, Zuccarello has yet to score while St. Louis has only one goal.

A year ago, Zuccarello didn't score until his eighth game, one match after sitting as a healthy scratch. He scored once in his first 15 games and twice in his first 23 before finishing the season with 19 goals after meshing with Brassard and the since-departed Benoit Pouliot.

"It's hard not to think about," Zuccarello said. "You have to stay positive because nothing gets better if you're negative. It's a little harder to sleep at night, I'm not going to lie."

It's been a little bit harder than expected so far for the Rangers.

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