his third goal of the game in overtime to give the Montreal Canadiens a
5-4 win over the New York Rangers on Saturday night.
Cammalleri put a wrist shot past
Henrik Lundqvist 2:42 in the extra period for his sixth goal of the
season to give Montreal its third straight win.
Cammalleri scored his second goal of
the game late in the second period as Montreal tallied three times in
the middle period to tie it at 4.
Cammalleri, who opened the scoring at
4:16 of the first, scored 18:58 into the second to draw the Canadiens
even after Matt D’Agostini and Marc-Andre Bergeron scored earlier in
the period.
Jaroslav Halak made his third straight start and stopped 23 shots.
Marian Gaborik scored his eighth goal
midway through the second to put New York up 4-2 after he assisted on
Matt Gilroy‘s score late in the first.
Gilroy got his second of the season
with 57.7 seconds left in the first as the Rangers scored three
unanswered goals to take a 3-1 lead after Artem Anisimov and Ales
Kotalik scored earlier in the period.
Henrik Lundqvist made 26 saves for New York, which had lost its two previous games following a seven-game winning streak.
Scott Gomez had two assists for
Montreal in his first game against the Rangers since he was traded to
the Canadiens on June 30 in a multiplayer deal that freed up salary cap
space that allowed New York to sign Gaborik.
Gomez, who has five years and $33.5
million left on the seven-year contract he signed with New York, was
given an unsportsmanlike conduct minor 5:22 into the third, negating a
Montreal power play.
Referee Dan O’Rourke ruled that the
Canadiens’ center had dived in an attempt to draw a hooking penalty
against Ryan Callahan while the Rangers were already short-handed after
Michael Del Zotto was sent off for tripping D’Agostini along the
boards.
D’Agostini helped start the
Canadiens’ comeback when he scored his first of the season at 8:48 of
the second period to draw Montreal within 3-2. After stripping the puck
off Brandon Dubinsky in the neutral zone, D’Agostini followed Maxim
Lapierre down the ice. With Dubinsky trailing him, Lapierre passed
across the goalmouth to D’Agostini, who slapped the puck past Lundqvist
before the net became dislodged.
Gaborik restored New York’s two-goal
margin at 4-2 when he beat Halak on a breakaway at 11:56 for his second
goal in as many games.
Montreal closed to 4-3 when Bergeron scored a power-play goal for the second straight game on a 5-on-3 advantage at 15:26.
Dubinsky was benched after his
turnover. Christopher Higgins, who made his first appearance against
Montreal since he was dealt to New York in the Gomez trade, also sat
out the third period.
On the ice for Cammalleri’s tying
goal, Higgins took a high-sticking penalty 14:41 into the second and
gave Montreal the two-man advantage that led to Bergeron’s goal.
Cammalleri finished off a nice
passing play with linemates Gomez and Brian Gionta to give Montreal an
early 1-0 lead. Gionta fell after taking a pass from Gomez, though he
still managed to swipe the puck across to Cammalleri, who put a shot
into the right side before Lundqvist could get across.
Anisimov tied it at 1 midway through
the first with his second goal when he roofed a loose rebound into the
top of the net from the right side.
Kotalik put the Rangers up 2-1 with his fifth goal at 14:42 of the first when Sean Avery found him alone in the slot.
Notes
Higgins was selected 14th
overall by the Canadiens in the first round of the 2002 draft. He had
84 goals and 67 assists in 282 games with Montreal. … Canadiens D
Paul Mara faced New York for the first time since he left the Rangers
as a free agent to sign a one-year deal with Montreal on July 10. Mara
had eight goals and 35 assists in 156 games with the Rangers in parts
of three seasons from 2007-09.
