MONTREAL — The Rangers brought excitement to the NHL's Frozen Frenzy.
All 32 teams may have been in the game on Tuesday night, but the Blueshirts beat the Canadiens 7-2 at the Bell Center with a performance that lived up to the league's nickname of the NFL's red zone version.
The hubs were quickly overwhelmed. If they allow four goals on their first 10 shots, that's it.
Point after point was scored, and suddenly, midway through the first period, nine of the Rangers' 18 skaters were on the scoresheet.
The final count was 12 of 18.
He was not given a chance to return to the game.
The Rangers never relented.
Destroying their natural opponents, the Rangers scored at least one point in six consecutive games, setting a franchise record for longest scoring streak to start a season.
The win also tied the team record for most consecutive road wins to start a season.
Tuesday night's initial frenzy is just a footnote in what has been a torrid start for the Rangers heading into the 2024-25 season.
During the first half of the first period, the Rangers skated around the Canadiens.
Montreal held its breath as the Rangers put the home team on the scoreboard with their scoring and hustle.
After several chances for the Canadiens in the opening seconds, the Rangers came back and Mika Zibanejad scored from the left circle in transition to give his team a 1-0 lead less than a minute into the game. .
From there, the Blueshirts just built on it.
Adam Edstrom chased a cleared puck that Canadiens players thought would be killed on the whistle for landing. The big Swede won the puck race and deflected it back to Johnny Brodzinski, and the veteran forward scored to double the Rangers' lead.
Less than five minutes later, Riley Smith's individual effort put the Rangers up 3-0.
The Rangers' second power play unit then entered the game, starting and ending with Filip Sitil.
The Czech center pickedpocketed Jake Evans, brought it up the ice and found the back of the net at 11:05, burying a feed from Smith.
Montreal then pulled goaltender Sam Montembeau, who allowed four goals on 10 shots, and brought in Caden Primeau.
After Braden Schneider scored his second goal of the season in the second period, Sitil added his second of the night and Kaapo Kakko scored his first goal of the season to keep the game well within reach of the final frame.
Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki's two goals, one at the end of the first period and one on the power play, saved Montreal through a tough first 11 minutes.
