Chris Kreider scores his 12th, Rangers beat Canadiens for fourth in row

In the days after they somehow stole a victory over the league-leading Florida Panthers on Nov. 8, the Rangers were all too willing to admit that they hadn’t played as well as their record at the time suggested.

But things have changed in the last week. The frenetic early-season schedule eased up a little, and the Rangers got a day off, and three days of practice to tinker with a few things. Now, suddenly, they are piling up wins, and feeling as if they have earned them.

They won their fourth straight on Tuesday, beating the struggling Montreal Canadiens, 3-2, at Madison Square Garden. Kaapo Kakko, who went without a point in his first 10 games, scored for the second straight game, and Chris Kreider scored his 12th goal of the season. And then Julien Gauthier, who has been in and out of the lineup and always seemed to fall short of the expectations folks had for him, scored his first goal of the season early in the third period to provide the winning margin.

The Rangers (10-3-3) have 23 points and are second to Metropolitan Division leading Carolina.

Afterward, the attitude was a whole lot different than it was a week ago.

"The last three games, we’ve definitely played a lot better hockey,’’ coach Gerard Gallant said. "Better ‘D’ zone, better offensive [zone] . . . The stuff we talked about even when we’re winning and playing bad, we improved a lot of that stuff. So I think the team’s getting together knowing each other pretty well now and it’s just clicking right now. I thought we played a real good game.’’

Igor Shesterkin, last seen leaving Saturday’s win over Columbus late in the third period after being run over by Columbus forward Alexandre Texier, returned to the nets for the Rangers and looked just fine, making 31 saves.

The Rangers played without forward Sammy Blais, who suffered a torn ACL in Sunday’s game against the Devils. But they welcomed back center Filip Chytil, who missed three games while on injured reserve with an upper-body injury.

Kakko gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead at 15:46 of the first period, redirecting a feed from Artemi Panarin past goalie Cayden Primeau, who was making his season debut.

Montreal tied the score on a goal by Christian Dvorak at 2:17 of the second period, and then the action picked up. First, enforcer Ryan Reaves got into his first fight of the season, with Canadiens rookie Michael Pezzetta, who challenged him.

"I was very confused about what was going on,’’ Reaves said. "That was the second time in my career I was confused on whether a guy from the minors, an absolute killer, was trying to make a name, or something. But both ended the same way.’’

This one ended with Reaves making quick work of Pezzetta. Then Kreider drove the net and tapped in a sweet feed from Mika Zibanejad to put the Rangers up 2-1 at 3:50.

The goal pulled Kreider into a tie with Washington’s Alexander Ovechkin for the second-most goals in the league, behind Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl.

Gauthier, who may have a chance to earn regular playing time with Blais lost for the season, made it 3-1 at 1:56 of the third period when he lifted the stick of Montreal defenseman Brett Kulak and stole the puck from him, then lifted a backhander over Primeau (31 saves).

Josh Anderson got the goal back for the Canadiens just 22 seconds later, but the Rangers were able to preserve the lead and hold on.

By Colin Stephenson

colin.stephenson@newsday.comColinSNewsday

Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.