The early season juggernaut that is the New York Rangers continued to lay waste to the opposition Tuesday night at Bell Centre. This time it was a convincing 7-2 win against the Montreal Canadiens, making it four victories in a row, a perfect 4-0-0 record on the road and not a single regulation loss in the first six games of the season, a new Rangers record.
Before the Canadiens faithful could settle in, it was already 1-0 on Mika Zibanejad’s sweet goal 52 seconds in off a smooth transition by the Rangers. And before Montreal goalie Sam Montembeault could barely break a sweat, he was on the bench, pulled after a barrage of four Rangers goals on 10 shots in the opening 11:05.
Game over.
Right now, the Rangers are a behemoth in the NHL. They crush mediocre teams like the Canadiens and have been better than serious contenders like the Toronto Maple Leafs, whom they edged on the road Saturday night.
At 5-0-1, the Rangers own a .917 points percentage, best in the Eastern Conference. They’ve outscored their opponents 31-12, with their plus-19 goals differential best in the League.
As coach Peter Laviolette noted postgame Tuesday, the Rangers are winning in different ways each game, with contributions all over the lineup. That makes them a load to handle.
Next up they get to test themselves against the Florida Panthers, the defending Stanley Cup champions who outworked them and knocked them out in the Eastern Conference Final last spring. It’ll be a measuring stick and a revenge opportunity of sorts for the Rangers, and a must watch on the NHL schedule.
But first, let’s break down what we saw in Montreal on Tuesday.
Related: Pierre McGuire believes Rangers are ‘best passing team in the League’
3 takeaways from Rangers 7-2 win against Canadiens
Here are three key takeaways from the game Tuesday.
1. Unstoppable offense
The Rangers were absolutely relentless offensively against the Canadiens. They had 45 shots on goal and 81 shot attempts. Per Natural Stat Trick, the Rangers nearly doubled a talented Canadiens offense in scoring chances (37-19) and had 68 percent of the high-dangers chances (17-8). New York owned the puck in the offensive zone, forcing the Canadiens to defend for large swaths of time.
It often looked like the Rangers were on the power play during 5v5. Their puck movement was crisp, no one was standing around and they won one puck battle after another. And it was all four lines, with the defensemen chipping in plenty too.
The Rangers scored a season-high seven goals and have yet to score fewer than four in a single game. Their 31 goals through six games is most in the NHL since the New Jersey Devils and Los Angeles Kings each in 1993-94 (remember that season?). They lead the NHL by averaging 5.17 goals per game.
Twelve players found the score sheet Tuesday. The third line of Will Cuylle-Filip Chytil-Kaapo Kakko accounted for three goals and eight points. Kakko and Jonny Brodzinski were the 13th and 14th skaters to score a goal for the Rangers already this season.
2. Ryan Lindgren jumps aboard moving train
Ryan Lindgren returned to the Rangers lineup after missing five games with an upper-body injury sustained in a preseason fight. The 26-year-old defenseman partnered with rookie Victor Mancini and seemed a bit out of sync, which is to be expected. He was on ice for both Montreal goals, a step slow getting to Nick Suzuki in the first period in the low slot and caught reaching on Suzuki’s brilliant move and power-play goal in the second.
But it wasn’t all bad. Lindgren, wearing a bubble shield, logged 17:20 TOI, including 2:17 on the penalty kill. The Rangers had a 12-6 advantage in scoring chances with him on the ice and the xGF was a solid 61.32 percent.
It’s tough to jump on a moving train, especially one rumbling down the tracks as fast as the Rangers one is. But Lindgren did just fine in his first game back. The question now is, will he remain on the third pair or will he reclaim his spot on the top pair with longtime partner Adam Fox?
3. Noticeable Jacob Trouba
Jacob Trouba did not score a goal nor have an assist Tuesday, but his fingerprints were all over this victory. The Rangers captain was a plus-5, had four shots on goal, six shot attempts, three blocked shots and two hits.
Trouba blocked two shots on the game’s first shift, including an adept deflection with Lane Hutson shooting at an open net, before the Rangers transitioned the other way and Zibanejad scored off the rush less than a minute into play. That set a tone for the game. The Rangers capitalized and made sure the Canadiens did not.
In the third period, Trouba buried Justin Barron with a massive hit along the boards in the neutral zone. Barron appeared to put himself in a vulnerable position and Trouba blasted him, then had to fight Mike Matheson for it afterwards. The Canadiens want NHL Department of Player Safety to review the play, though no penalty was called by the on-ice officials.
