MONTREAL _ All the pressure was on the Canadiens and they responded.
Having lost Game 1 at Bell Centre on Wednesday, the second game of the first-round series with the Rangers on Friday raised the ante, and the Canadiens were a desperate team.
After all, according to Elias Sports Bureau, teams that led 2-0 in a best-of-seven Stanley Cup playoff series had a 305-48 series record, or won the series 86.4 percent of the time.
Trailing 3-2 with time winding down, goaltender Carey Price was pulled and the Canadiens rallied as the Blueshirts tried to protect the slim lead.
Tomas Plekanec's deflection with 17.3 seconds remaining in regulation tied the score and Alex Radulov's jam-in with 1:26 left in overtime won it, 4-3. Henrik Lundqvist made 54 saves and was stellar in defeat.
Game 3 is at Madison Square Garden on Sunday night.
The Rangers had won an NHL-best 28 road games this season, but are 20-16-4 at home.
In Game 1 on Wednesday, the Habs, finishing check after check to the delight of the crowd, dominated the first period, firing 16 shots on Lundqvist. But the Rangers, up 1-0 on Tanner Glass' fortuitous goal midway through the period, took the momentum after the intermission, and held the Canadiens to just 15 shots in the final two periods and the Blueshirts took Game 1, 2-0, as Lundqvist made 31 saves.
Game 2 started as if a continuation of Wednesday's tilt, with 53 hits in the first 20 minutes, but more odd-man rushes in the first period than all of Game 1. Price kicked away a chance by Marc Staal, trailing the play and Ryan McDonagh shot wide past the post, and Price then stopped Grabner from the right circle at 2:45.
The Canadiens began a more aggressive forecheck, sending three forwards in and crashed the net, rattling the Blueshirt coverage. With Lundqvist's broken stick shoveled to the corner, Jeff Petry's wrister from the right circle went through traffic and in for a 1-0 lead on the first Habs shot on goal at 4:05. Lundqvist lost his stick for a second time about five minutes later, but the puck was cleared out of danger. Dan Girardi then misplayed a one-timer and Paul Byron broke in alone, to be denied by Lundqvist, keeping the deficit at 1.
On another breakaway, Grabner tied the score. Nikita Nesterov fumbled the puck near the red line, and it was scooped by Grabner. Price came out to challenge, and as he was backing up, Grabner went right and flipped a high backhand in at 13:48. It was his second goal of the series.
With the Canadiens pressing, both Staal and Nick Holden chased a puck behind net, and Chris Kreider followed, but Brendan Gallagher, an irritant all night, retrieved it and quickly fed Byron, untouched by Derek Stepan, and his snap shot went over Lundqvist's right shoulder at 15:42 for a 2-1 lead.
The chippiness continued in the second, with punches, shoves and slashes after the whistle until a brawl involving all 10 skaters erupted at 7:05, which resulted in a Habs power play. Lundqvist stopped a handful of shots, and then rookie Jimmy Vesey set up Nash coming down the left side, and the veteran wired a top corner shot past Price to pull the Blueshirts into a tie at 9:58.
Brendan Smith won a determined battle along the left boards in the Canadiens zone and got the puck loose to Derek Stepan, who found Zuccarello at the right post for a redirect past Price at 14:47 and a 3-2 edge.
All that was left was to hang on, and without a stick yet again and scrambling back after wandering to his right, Lundqvist denied Alex Galchenyuk point blank with 3:15 left.
