Canadiens-Rangers: Habs Lose Important Game

The Montreal Canadiens were at Madison Square Garden yesterday to face the New York Rangers in an anticipated match-up that could have cleared up some of the Eastern Conference playoff race.

With only a handful of games to play, the Canadiens would have clinched a playoff spot with a victory last night.

But the story on the ice was truly different.

Only a couple of players played well while the rest looked like they were along for the ride.

In net, Henrik Lundqvist outplayed Carey Price by quite a margin. Only Mathieu Dandenault was able to beat the Rangers goaltender while Price looked awful on at least one of New York's goals.

Chris Drury scored twice to help the Rangers beat the Habs by a score of 3-1 and close the gap between the two teams. One point now separates them in the standings.

The Canadiens are still in seventh, the Rangers are eighth, while the Florida Panthers, sitting in ninth place, are still three points behind Montreal.

The Canadiens will face the Boston Bruins on Thursday.

(Picture: Getty Images)