The Montreal Canadiens continued their road trip on Thursday against the New York Rangers, which is their fourth straight road game. However, it doesn't seem to matter for the Canadiens, who continue to keep finding a way to win and did so again on Thursday with a 3-2 win over the Rangers.
It was a fairly even game through the first 20 minutes with neither team able to score, but in the second, it was a different story. Alex Newhook would score the first goal of the game to give Montreal a 1-0 lead before Cole Caufield added another goal later in the period.
The Rangers refused to go away, though, and scored twice in the third period to tie it up, but Caufield would get the Canadiens the lead back and for good to win 3-2. They now have 98 points this season and are only two points back of the Buffalo Sabres and Tampa Bay Lightning for first place in the Atlantic Division.
Cole Caufield scores two more, moves his season total to 49
Cole Caufield is doing everything he can to keep pace and catch Nathan MacKinnon for the league lead in goals and bring the Rocket Richard Trophy back to Montreal. Entering this game, MacKinnon had a three-goal lead over Caufield after scoring on Wednesday against the Vancouver Canucks.
However, Caufield responds with two goals against the New York Rangers, including the game-winner in the third period, to move his season total to 49 and now only one goal back of MacKinnon. Even if Caufield doesn't eventually catch MacKinnon, he has had an incredible run as of late, with 12 goals in the last 11 games, with only two games during this run where he didn't score a goal.
Montreal Canadiens win another second period
The biggest change for the Montreal Canadiens during this recent win streak has been their ability to take games over in the second period. That once again was the case against the Rangers on Thursday as both teams were scoreless after the first period before the Canadiens scored twice in the second.
Since the start of the win streak, the Canadiens have now out-scored their opponents 13-0 in that middle period and scored in every second period except against the Nashville Predators, when neither team scored.
Canadiens give up two-goal lead in the third period but don't let the game get away from them
One of the issues earlier in the season was the Montreal Canadiens giving away leads in the third period or not being able to close games out. On Thursday, they did give the lead up as the Rangers scored twice in the third period, but the Canadiens didn't panic.
They were able to regroup and bounce back with Nick Suzuki finding Caufield for the game-winning goal. With who the Canadiens have beaten during this win streak and jumping out to a lead, it is worth wondering if they let up a bit that allowed the Rangers to get back into it.
However, the good news is that there was no panic and they were still able to come up with the win. It was a huge win as they have now won seven straight as they try to catch up to the Tampa Bay Lightning, who won on Thursday and remain two points ahead of Montreal.