NHL

Montreal Canadiens at New York Rangers

· National Hockey League
Montreal Canadiens
44-21-10
Final
3 - 2
New York Rangers
31-36-9

Cole Caufield reaches 49 goals as the Canadiens win their 7th in a row by beating the Rangers

Cole Caufield lights the lamp

Caufield's second was his NHL-best 12th winning goal, putting the Canadiens ahead 47 seconds after Will Cuylle tied it. He moved one back of Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon for the league lead in goals and in the process extended his career high with 83 points.

This winning streak is the storied organization's longest in nearly a decade, dating to an eight-game unbeaten run from Oct. 18-Nov. 2, 2016. Montreal has separated itself from the pack in the Eastern Conference and kept pace with Buffalo and Tampa Bay in a hot Atlantic Division race.

Alex Newhook scored the Canadiens' first goal 4 1/2 minutes into the second period on their 12th shot against Igor Shesterkin, who was the only reason they hadn't taken a lead earlier.

Jakub Fowler made 21 saves, the biggest on a penalty kill late in the second when he turned aside Alexis Lafrenière at the side of the net. Helped by his teammates controlling the puck for much of the night, the 21-year-old from South Florida improved to 8-5-2 in his first 15 NHL starts since getting called up in December.

Despite 22 saves from Shesterkin and the goals by Cuylle and Adam Fox, New York lost for a 26th time in 38 home games. Captain J.T. Miller was honored with an award named for Hall of Famer Rod Gilbert, who played his entire 18-season professional career with the Rangers.

Up next Canadiens: Visit the New Jersey Devils on Saturday night to wrap up their five-game trip.

Rangers: Host the in-the-hunt Detroit Red Wings on Saturday.

Regular Season Series

NYR win series 2-1

Scoring Summary

Goal 2nd Period 4:36 Alex Newhook Goal (12) Slap Shot, assists: Ivan Demidov (43)
Goal 2nd Period 6:20 Cole Caufield Goal (48) Snap Shot, assists: Juraj Slafkovský (38), Nick Suzuki (66)
Goal 3rd Period 9:23 Adam Fox Goal (7) Snap Shot, assists: Mika Zibanejad (38), Vladislav Gavrikov (18)
Goal 3rd Period 14:08 Will Cuylle Goal (17) Deflected, assists: Jonny Brodzinski (8), Vincent Trocheck (35)
Goal 3rd Period 14:55 Cole Caufield Goal (49) Wrist Shot, assists: Mike Matheson (30), Nick Suzuki (67)

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/mtl.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originMTL https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/nyr.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originNYR
13 Blocked Shots 5
22 Hits 27
3 Takeaways 5
25 Shots 24
0 Power Play Goals 0
2 Power Play Opportunities 3
0.0 Power Play Percentage 0.0
0 Short Handed Goals 0
0 Shootout Goals 0
30 Faceoffs Won 22
57.7 Faceoff Win Percent 42.3
15 Giveaways 18
2 Total Penalties 2
6 Penalty Minutes 4
New York Rangers New York Rangers Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Matt Rempe, C Injured Reserve Mar 23
Montreal Canadiens Montreal Canadiens Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE

Game Information

Madison Square Garden

Location: New York, NY
Attendance: 17,424 | Capacity:

2025-26 Atlantic Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Buffalo 9 23 109 50
Tampa Bay 6 26 106 50
Montreal 10 24 106 48
Boston 10 27 100 45
Ottawa 11 27 99 44
Detroit 10 31 92 41
Florida 4 38 84 40
Toronto 14 36 78 32

2025-26 Metropolitan Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Carolina 7 22 113 53
Pittsburgh 16 25 98 41
Philadelphia 12 27 98 43
Washington 9 30 95 43
Columbus 12 30 92 40
NY Islanders 5 34 91 43
New Jersey 3 37 87 42
NY Rangers 9 39 77 34
Full Standings