Habs Punish Rangers With Five Goals in Second
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Alex Kovalev got his second straight two-goal game as Montreal scored five unanswered goals in the second period in the Canadiens’ 6–4 win over the Rangers last night.
Kovalev scored a pair of powerplay goals to key the outburst which drove Rangers starter Henrik Lundqvist from the net — to the delight of the sold-out Bell Centre crowd of 21,273 — midway through the second period after he allowed four goals within 7:30.
Steve Begin, Michael Ryder, and Tomas Plekanec also scored in the second for Montreal, which trailed 2–0 after the first. Saku Koivu added four assists.
Mark Streit got the Canadiens’ sixth goal 13:03 into the third after Thomas Pock and Matt Cullen scored goals 1:15 apart earlier in the period to draw New York within 5–4.
The Canadiens moved into a tie with Tampa Bay for seventh in the Eastern Conference with 86 points.
Rookie Jaroslav Halak, who has started all five games and was named the league’s third star of the week, stopped 28 shots, including a save on Jaromir Jagr’s breakaway 15:02 into the second.
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DEVILS 3, ISLANDERS 2
Zach Parise scored his career-high 30th goal, Martin Brodeur broke his New Jersey record with a 44th victory, and the Devils clinched their 10th straight playoff berth with a 3-2 victory over the Islanders last night.
Parise and Scott Gomez staked the Devils to a 2–0 lead and David Clarkson added a third-period, power-play goal against backup goalie Mike Dunham, who subbed for injured Rick DiPietro. DiPietro sat out because of headaches first felt following Sunday’s overtime loss to the Rangers.
While the Devils are back in the postseason, the Islanders’ chances took a double hit. They entered the night in a three-way tie for eighth place in the Eastern Conference — the playoff cutoff — but have only six games remaining and no idea if DiPietro will be back in time to help them.
New Jersey has no such goalie issues and won its second straight after dropping four of five. Brodeur made 23 saves and beat the Islanders for the sixth time this season, including three shutouts. He is three wins shy of tying Bernie Parent’s NHL record of 47 victories in a season.
The Devils remained tied with Pittsburgh atop the Atlantic Division.
