Canadiens Nip Rangers in Overtime
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Michael Ryder struck for the second straight night, wristing a shot off goaltender Kevin Weekes 2:10 into overtime that gave the Montreal Canadiens a 4-3 victory over the Rangers last night.
Ryder, who had Montreal’s first goal of the game, scored the game-winner Wednesday with 11 seconds remaining in the Canadiens’ season-opening 2-1 victory at Boston.
Taking Montreal’s only shot of the overtime, Ryder let one go from the right circle that appeared to hit Weekes’s stick on the way in.
The Rangers, who opened the season with a win at Philadelphia on Wednesday, salvaged one point when Dominic Moore tied it with 2:36 left in regulation.
Alexander Perezhogin gave the Canadiens a 3-2 lead in the second period with his first NHL goal in his first game.
Perezhogin, the last Canadiens forward to make the roster, didn’t dress Wednesday. He got into the lineup yesterday because of Richard Zednik’s groin injury that sidelined him early against the Bruins.
And he made the most of his opportunity. Perezhogin took a lead pass from former Rangers star Alex Kovalev and scored on a breakaway 6:07 into the middle period.
Chris Higgins also scored for Montreal, and Jose Theodore made 16 saves for his second straight win.
Marcel Hossa, acquired last Friday from Montreal, scored his second goal of the season and Martin Rucinsky added one for the Rangers.
Hossa gave New York its second 1-0 lead in two nights when he finished off a pretty passing play with Martin Straka and Steve Rucchin and slammed a shot past Theodore just 65 seconds in.
The Rangers had a chance to grab a two-goal lead when Jan Bulis was sent off for hooking at 1:28 and four minutes later when Pierre Dagenais was whistled for holding but they couldn’t cash in on the power play. They finished 1-for-6 while killing off 10 of 11 shorthanded situations.