Canadiens defeat Rangers, end nine-game losing streak

NEW YORK --Jeff Petry broke a tie with 31 seconds left in the third period, and the Montreal Canadiens ended a nine-game losing streak by defeating the New York Rangers 4-3 at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday.

Petry scored his second of the game from the right face-off circle after a Rangers turnover in their defensive zone.
Mike Hoffman and Ryan Poehling scored, Christian Dvorak had two assists, and Sam Montembeault made 24 saves for the Canadiens (21-49-11), who hadn't won since a 7-4 victory at the New Jersey Devils on April 7.
"We stopped the bleeding tonight, that's for sure," Montreal coach Martin St. Louis said. "It feels good. If we can find a way to play a hard [in the] last game (against the Florida Panthers on Friday), which I think we will because it's going to be the last one, it's going to be at home, then we can finish on a good note and get away from the game a little bit, hit the reset button for next year. Any kind of year like that you just can't wait to hit the reset button. That's what we need."
Ryan Strome, Ryan Reaves and Frank Vatrano scored, and Barclay Goodrow had two assists for the Rangers (51-24-6), who had already clinched second place in the Metropolitan Division. Alexandar Georgiev made 19 saves.

New York has lost three in a row for the first time since Nov. 2-6.
"We wanted to snap the losing streak, obviously fall short, but I thought a lot of the guys who maybe haven't been playing tonight really stepped up and played a good game tonight," said Rangers forward Kevin Rooney, who had an assist.
The Rangers played without seven regulars, including forwards Artemi Panarin (upper body) and Andrew Copp (lower body), who each was injured in a 4-3 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday. Panarin and Copp are expected to be ready for the start of the Stanley Cup Playoffs next week.
New York forwards Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider, and defensemen Adam Fox, Ryan Lindgren and Jacob Trouba were healthy scratches. Zibanejad, Kreider and Trouba each missed his first game of the season.
The Rangers end their regular season against the Washington Capitals here Friday. They could face the Capitals in the Eastern Conference First Round.
"We feel good about our group for sure," Rangers forward Alexis Lafreniere said. "We had a really good year and I think we're ready for the playoffs. One more game, so we'll try to win it and play hard, but we're really excited to play some playoff hockey."

Petry gave the Canadiens a 2-1 lead with nine seconds left in the second period. The defenseman has six points (two goals, four assists) in a four-game point streak and 10 points (two goals, eight assists) in his past 10 games. Petry had 16 points (four goals, 12 assists) in his first 57 games. He has 26 points (six goals, 20 assists) in 67 games after scoring at least 40 points in each of the previous four seasons.
"It wasn't my goal at all this year to show up and play the way I did at the start of the year, so for me it was just pushing through and trying to find that game that I had the previous three years," Petry said. "I'm glad that it's starting to show now."
St. Louis said of Petry, "I feel like he's sprinting to the finish line after a long race, and I like that. He's not just coasting through it. He's putting himself in a better mental situation I guess with his season that can carry into his summer. I'm really happy for him."
Vatrano tied it 2-2 at 4:15 of the third with a wrist shot from the left circle into the far corner.
Hoffman gave Montreal a 3-2 lead at 12:08 with a shot off the rush from the left circle. He has three goals in the past four games.
Strome tied it 3-3 with a shorthanded goal off the rush at 15:41, taking advantage a Hoffman's turnover deep in Montreal's offensive zone.
Poehling gave Montreal a 1-0 lead at 18:45 of the first period, scoring with a one-timer from the right circle off a pass from Michael Pezzetta.
Reaves tied it 1-1 at 4:14 of the second during a delayed penalty when his shot deflected in off the stick of Dvorak.
NOTES: New York forward Kaapo Kakko played 14:48 after missing four games with a lower-body injury. … Kreider was named the winner of the first annual Rod Gilbert "Mr. Ranger" Award in a pregame ceremony. The Rangers established the award to honor the Gilbert, the Hall of Fame forward who died before the season. It goes to the player "who best honors Rod's legacy by exemplifying leadership qualities both on and off the ice, and making a significant humanitarian contribution to his community."