The Montreal Canadiens hosted the New York Rangers on Saturday night, looking to extend their early-season winning streak to an impressive five games.
Both teams held two-goal leads at one point in the match-up, but in the end, the Rangers emerged with a hard-fought 4-3 win.
Let’s dive into the highlights!
Early Momentum
It was one of the best starts we’ve seen from the Canadiens, and that extends beyond the six games they’ve played this season. Strong work by Cole Caufield set up a prime scoring opportunity for Juraj Slafkovsky, who took advantage of the picture-perfect 2v1 to score his second of the year.
The top line continues its dominant play in all situations, and all three players have been a crucial part of their success.
The early goal was also a good reminder Caufield has long evolved beyond simply being one of the best goalscorers in the NHL.
Great work by Cole Caufield to force the turnover and then setup Juraj Slafkovsky for a perfect 2v1 goal. #GoHabsGo up 1-0 early. pic.twitter.com/YiAnxiOSbB
— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) October 18, 2025
The Habs capitalized on their momentum, not to mention an early powerplay, leading to a bullet of a pass by Ivan Demidov, as well as Nick Suzuki’s first goal of the season to make it 2-0.
Keep in mind, even though this was just Suzuki’s first goal of the year, he’s running at well above a point-per-game pace, which means he’s bound to start scoring more goals, as his shooting percentage is usually about five times higher than it is at the present moment.
You could argue the Canadiens’ driving force behind their early-season success is simply a matter of following Suzuki’s example.
As for Demidov’s assist, I have to say I love how hard and crisp it was. Few things bother me more than powerplays that fail to score while featuring wet-noodle passing. Also, few NHL players would have connected on that type of play better than Demidov and Suzuki. 9 out of ten times, that lightning-quick pass slams into the boards as the fans bemoan the missed scoring opportunity.
The puck is in the back of the net before anyone realizes Demidov passed. Nick Suzuki makes it 2-0 for the #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/F76ze3MELs
— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) October 18, 2025
Rangers Response
We have to give credit to the Rangers, as they controlled the play in the second half of the game, as evidenced by Matthew Robertson’s first career goal that established a 3-2 lead for the road team. It was an odd trajectory, but ideally, Samuel Montembeault makes that save.
Robertson beats Montembeault with a point shot, Rangers are up 3-2. It was Robertson’s first career goal. pic.twitter.com/FDY0XXf7rk
— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) October 19, 2025
The Rangers weren’t done there, earning a two-goal lead just a few moments later when Mika Zibanejad set-up Artemi Panarin’s first goal of the year. The Canadiens managed to cut the lead to 4–3 thanks to Noah Dobson’s first goal of the season. I’m starting to sense a first-goal pattern developing. Unfortunately, it was too little, too late.
Noah Dobson’s first in a Habs uniform cuts the Rangers’ lead to just one. #GoHabsGopic.twitter.com/EbXrdpOu58
— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) October 19, 2025
Additional Montreal Canadiens Highlights, Notes And Statistics
- Roughly one year ago, Demidov was being demoted or benched by his KHL coach, who has since been fired. Today, he’s enjoying some top-tier mentoring from Martin St-Louis in the NHL. I’d consider that the glow-up of the decade.
St-Louis and Demidov are having fun. #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/eC4FP5Ximt
— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) October 19, 2025
- It’s almost unreasonable how casual Hutson looks as he quickly creates time and space in the offensive zone. He’s somehow emulating the Harlem Globetrotters, playing hockey, on skates, against men who are desperately attempting to stop him by any means necessary. Emphasis on ‘attempting’.
Lane Hutson. pic.twitter.com/fkN2Ct04DN
— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) October 18, 2025
- Did anyone happen to notice why Jonathan Quick was riled up in the second period, after the fight between Arber Xhekaj and Sam Carrick? He seemed to have an issue with Hutson. Admittedly, Xhekaj was a little aggressive in responding to a big hit by Carrick on Hutson, but that’s out of Hutson’s control.
Honestly not sure why Quick is so upset with Hutson. pic.twitter.com/CyyUbXjjO7
— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) October 19, 2025
- Unlike most games this season, the Habs did not manage to control the quality chances. New York held a 10-4 advantage in that crucial statistical category (5v5).
The Montreal Canadiens are back in action on Monday. They will host the Buffalo Sabres, with the puck drop scheduled for 7:30 pm ET.
All Montreal Canadiens statistics are 5v5 unless otherwise noted, via Natural Stat Trick.
