Canadiens edge Rangers in shootout
NEW YORK -- Paul Byron scored the deciding goal in the shootout and the Montreal Canadiens defeated the New York Rangers 3-2 on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.
The win was the second for the Canadiens in their past nine games and first under new coach Claude Julien.
In the final 10 seconds of overtime, the Canadiens' Tomas Plekanec hit the post and on the ensuing rush J.T. Miller was denied by a diving Carey Price right before the horn to send the game to a shootout.
The Canadiens maintained their hold on first place in the Atlantic Division over the Ottawa Senators, who defeated the New Jersey Devils 2-1 on Tuesday night.
Shea Weber and Andrew Shaw had the Canadiens' goals.
Canadiens goaltender Carey Price stopped 28 shots.
Rick Nash and Oscar Lindberg scored for the Rangers.
Henrik Lundqvist made 26 saves for the win.
The Canadiens took a 1-0 lead at 3:55 of the first period. Weber's wrist shot from the point went wide of the net, but the bounce off the end boards caromed right to the stick of Shaw, who scored on a wraparound before Lundqvist could get back to his net.
Lindberg tied the score at 10:03 with his third goal of the season. Jesper Fast beat Canadiens defenseman Alexei Emelin to the outside and threaded a pass through Weber and onto the stick of Lindberg in the crease for the tap-in goal that made it 1-1.
Weber restored the Canadiens' lead with a power-play goal at 1:42 of the second period. He blasted a shot from near the blue line that beat Lundqvist with help from a screen by Canadiens forward Brendan Gallagher.
After Nash was denied earlier in the period, he scored on a second breakaway attempt at 9:26. Nash controlled the puck in his skates and snapped a quick shot over Price's glove to knot the score at 2.
NOTES: Canadiens G Carey Price appeared to be in pain during warmups after a high shot from C Paul Byron, but he started the game. ... The Canadiens scratched C David Desharnais, RW Sven Andrighetto and D Nikita Nesterov. Nesterov played Sunday against Winnipeg but was replaced by D Greg Pateryn on Tuesday. ... The Rangers iced the same lineup for the second straight game. ... The Rangers have just nine home games remaining. They will play 14 of their final 23 games away from MSG.