MONTREAL _ Well, one struggling team had to go home with two points on Saturday.
As it turned out, it was the Canadiens, who knocked off the Rangers, 5-4, at Bell Centre for only their third victory of the season, while the Blueshirts record dropped to an unsightly 3-7-2.
The Habs dominated the first period, outplaying the Blueshirts, controlling possession and firing 19 shots on Ondrej Pavelec, who stopped all but three. The Rangers managed just two on Carey Price.
As Pavelec skated slowly off for the first intermission, both Kevin Shattenkirk and Brady Skjei stick-tapped him on the pads for encouragement _ and condolences.
It was the most lopsided period of the season since the Maple Leafs hung five goals on Henrik Lundqvist and the Blueshirts in Toronto in the third game.
The Rangers came back to tie that one before losing 8-5. And they did the same thing Saturday, rallying to knot the score at four in the third, but eventually suffered another frustrating loss.
The Rangers chased the Habs around soon after the puck dropped. Pavel Buchnevich finally got a soft shot on Price at 3:45, as the Canadiens continued to buzz and win puck battles. Shattenkirk and Marc Staal somehow left Paul Byron alone between the circles and Jonathan Drouin's pass found him from the left boards. Byron immediately zipped a wrister high past Pavelec's glove at 7:51.
With Mats Zuccarello in the box for a slash, Brendan Smith felled near the end boards on Brendan Gallagher's hit, Alex Galchenyuk, uncovered at the right post, converted for a 2-0 lead at 11:09.
A bad hop over Ryan McDonagh's stick followed and it was 3-0 as Phillip Danault followed a juicy rebound of Andrew Shaw's shot at 13:15. About the only Rangers highlight was denying a four-minute power play with Shattenkirk in the penalty box for high-sticking at 14:18.
There was some pushback in the second. Buchnevich cut the margin to 3-1 on the power play at 2:51. It was his third goal in the last two games. Pavelec made several big stops to hold the fort and Rick Nash hustled for puck behind the net, came around the net and beat Price to the right post to make it 3-2 with 7:40 left in second.
But the Canadiens continued to crash the net with impunity and Max Pacioretty restored the two-goal lead, firing the puck through Pavelec at 14:38 and at the end of 40 minutes, it was 4-2.
The Rangers came out grinding in the third. Mika Zibanejad scored his seventh of the year at 2:25, sliding the puck past Price from Nash and McDonagh and on an ensuing power play with Byron in the box for tripping, the Rangers made a huge push for the equalizer, but Price made the timely stops and the once-raucous crowd breathed an audible sigh of relief.
That didn't last long, as Skjei's long shot bounced of Tomas Plekanec's backside and past Price at the seven-minute mark. But Danault, with another open rebound in front, made it 5-4 just 2:37 later, as the momentum swung and the crease-crashing continued.
Pavelec, who finished with 38 saves, was pulled with a little more than 90 seconds left, but the Rangers went to their plane knowing they just weren't good enough again.
