Associated Press
Max Pacioretty had two goals and an assist, linemates David Desharnais and Erik Cole also had three points each, and the Montreal Canadiens ended a three-game skid with a 4-1 win over the Rangers on Sunday night.
Pacioretty opened the scoring 2:39 in and restored Montreal's one-goal lead at 2-1 with his 15th of the season 3:54 into the second. The Canadiens scored three times in the middle period.
Desharnais had a goal and two assists, and Cole had three assists on a line that combined for nine points.
Peter Budaj made 28 saves, and Mike Blunden also scored for Montreal (17-20-8), which is 12th in the Eastern Conference. The Canadiens, 18 points behind East-leading New York, have won six straight against the Rangers at home.
John Mitchell scored in the first for the Rangers, who became the first team to reach 60 points this season when they beat Toronto 3-0 on Saturday night.
"It was uncharacteristic, some of the breakdowns we had," Rangers center Brad Richards said.
Henrik Lundqvist, who was rested Saturday, stopped 25 shots for the Rangers.
"We had no structure defensively," New York coach John Tortorella said. "That was our biggest problem."
Stepan added an insurance goal with a nice deke at 6:01.
• COMMENT ON BLUESHIRTS UNITED | PHOTO GALLERY
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STAT OF THE GAME
The loss to Montreal in regulation was the Rangers' first in a back-to-back game this season. The Blueshirts are now 11-1-2 in back-to-back games, including a 5-1-1 mark in the second game of back-to-backs. Since 2009-10, the Rangers are 26-9-3 in the second game of back-to-backs.
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| (selected by newyorkrangers.com) |
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| 1. Girardi |
2. Mitchell |
3. Stepan |
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[51-24-7]
[31-35-16]