Canadiens: Bouncing Right Back, And Back Again

Jakub Dobes got the nod tonight after Samuel Montembeault had a weak night in net on Saturday and Owen Beck was called up before the game. St-Eustache native Alexis Lafreniere got the game's first goal thanks to an awkward bounce off the boards, but Brendan Gallagher answered for the Canadiens two minutes later.

Unfortunately, Arber Xhekaj then sent a juicy turnover up the slot, and Will Cuylle was all too happy to oblige and give New York a 2-1 lead after 20 minutes. There was a bit of rough stuff in the first as well with Xhekaj and Matt Rempe looking for each other but it was Josh Anderson and Braden Schneider who nearly dropped the gloves.

Related: Canadiens Caught Up By Maple Leafs

The freshly recalled Beck spent just over four minutes on the ice in the first, compared to Michael Pezzetta who only spent 2:58 on the ice in 60 minutes last night, it was time for someone to be called up. Pezzetta is a nice guy and a great teammate but when a coach cannot give you a regular turn, you don't belong in the lineup.

The second frame was an exciting as they come with each team scoring a pair of goal. Christian Dvorak got a goal just after the power play expired for the Canadiens while Nick Suzuki made the Rangers pay for a turnover. The Rangers had taken a 3-2 lead when Mike Zibanejad scored on the man-advantage, second after a blatant cross-check was ignored. After Suzuki had leveled the score, Chris Kreider was left all alone on the doorstep and he had no issue deflecting a pass in to put New York ahead 4-3.

Anderson momentarily left the game in the middle frame after he appeared to injure his knee, but he came back before the end of second. Beck might just have had 6:35 of ice time after 40 minutes, but he did make a key play, covering for Kaiden Guhle after he joined in the attack.

Related: Suzuki And Matheson On Standby

As expected Xjekaj and Rempe dropped the gloves, and the fan favorite won the tilt with a solid left before pumping up the crowd on his way to the box. The blueliner did well to let Rempe drop his gloves first and the Canadiens ended up with a man advantage.

The third period was made of opportunities for both sides at both ends of the ice, the Rangers were frustrated a couple of times by the posts while Quick pulled off little miracles more than once, but he couldn't prevent Juraj Slafkovsky from scoring the equalizer. Lane Hutson got an assist on the play, a point in an 8th consecutive game, improving his own record of the most consecutive points for a rookie blueliner with the Canadiens.

If Dobes didn't have a great game, he made the difference in overtime, with the three Canadiens skaters completely gassed, he made a pair of astonishing saves which allowed fresh forces to hit the ice. With Laine, Jake Evans and Kaiden Guhle on the ice, the Canadiens took off for the offensive zone and it was the big Finn who scored the game-winning goal, allowing the Czech rookie to start his career with a fifth consecutive win.

The Rangers has beaten the Canadiens twice so far this season but it wasn't the same team, it wasn't the one that can come back from behind four times and then beat you. Once again tonight, Gallagher showed what kind of leader he is, putting up two points on the boards but also taking more shots on net than anyone else with five. It was a fitting performance for the diminutive winger who had been named to the Canadiens' quarter century team alongside Suzuki earlier in the day.

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