It's always special when there is an Original Six matchup, and that'll come for a Saturday afternoon matchup when the Montreal Canadiens battle the New York Rangers. The longtime rivals have already played once this season, with the Rangers taking a 7-2 victory. However, its just one in a long line of regular season matchups. The Canadiens hold the all-time lead, owning a 381-236-96-2 record, but haven't held a winning season record since the 2018-19 campaign.
The Canadiens surprisingly haven't had the same success against the Rangers in the postseason. You would likely think the Canadiens would dominate the Rangers in the playoffs considering their dominant teams in the early NHL days, and the higher likelihood of playing New York in the six-team league. However, they are 7-9 in 16 all-time playoff rounds. The Canadiens have lost three consecutive rounds.
Recent History: Price-Kreider incident
The most memorable Rangers-Canadiens moment over the past ten years is their 2014 playoff series. The Canadiens had advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals on the back of Carey Price, and they looked poised to return to the finals. However, three minutes into the first period of Game 1, Chris Kreider slid into Price's knee, which led to him leaving after the second period and not returning for the rest of the series.
The Rangers won that game 7-2, and Dustin Tokarski couldn't find the same form as Price to lead Montreal to the finals. The Canadiens fought valiantly without their leader, but ultimately lost in six games.
Canadiens-Rangers last matchup
On October 22, the Rangers handed the Canadiens one of their most embarrassing moments of the season. The Canadiens celebrated their dynasty in the 1970s, but the team on the ice looked anything but that when they allowed New York to score four goals in the first period.
It was the game where Lane Hutson looked lost in the first period on the way to being the cause of two goals, and Justin Barron took a scary-looking hit from Jacob Trouba in the third period.
It has been a difficult few seasons for the Canadiens, which explains their struggles against the Rangers. However, they must start taking down some of these powers in the Eastern Conference if they want to exit the rebuild.