NEW YORK -- Carey Price shut the door and the Montreal Canadiens found a way to win.
Max Pacioretty scored on a wrist shot from the top of the right circle with 4:17 left in the third period to provide the only offense Price would need in a 1-0 win against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Thursday.
Price made 24 saves for his third shutout of the season and sixth in 17 appearances against the Rangers.
New York goalie Henrik Lundqvist made 25 saves, but Pacioretty's shot found a way to squeeze through Lundqvist's left arm and his body.
The Canadiens (31-13-3) have won four in a row and 14 of their past 18 games (14-3-1). Price is 12-2-1 with a .948 save percentage in that span.
Montreal returns to Bell Centre to start a four-game homestand Saturday against the Washington Capitals. The Canadiens are in the midst of a stretch in which they play 10 of 12 games at home.
New York (27-15-4) has lost back-to-back games in regulation for only the second time since early December. The Rangers, who also lost to the New York Islanders on Tuesday, are fourth in the Metropolitan Division with 58 points, one behind the third-place Capitals and four behind the second-place Pittsburgh Penguins. They continue their four-game homestand Saturday against the Carolina Hurricanes.
The Rangers had several chances to take the lead before Pacioretty scored.
Forward Martin St. Louis was close to giving New York the first goal twice; he hit the crossbar with a point shot at 13:18 of the second period and was robbed by Price at 6:21 of the third, when he tried to bat the rebound of center Derek Stepan's shot into the net from the slot.
New York center Derick Brassard was close to scoring with 6:07 remaining in regulation, but his shot off the rebound went wide left. He had an open net to shoot at with Price still recovering from making the initial save on forward Rick Nash. Brassard reacted as if he was slashed on the hands, but there was no call from referee Steve Kozari, who was closest to the play.
Montreal started the third period with 1:24 remaining on the power play, but the Rangers killed the penalty and nearly got a shorthanded goal from Nash, whose breakaway 46 seconds into the period was disrupted by a pokecheck from Price.
Lundqvist and Price combined for 35 saves through 40 minutes to keep the game scoreless going into the third period. Lundqvist had 19 saves; Price made 16.
Lundqvist's best saves came late in the first period. He made a left pad save on Dale Weise's one-timer from below the right circle at 18:02, and a glove save on Pacioretty's wrist shot from the top of the left circle at 19:45.
The save on Weise was called into question during a stoppage at 18:38. The play went under video review in the NHL's Situation Room to determine if Weise's shot completely crossed the goal line before hitting Lundqvist's pad. The review was inconclusive so the call on the ice stood.
New York and Montreal had a combined 13 penalties totaling 32 minutes and five power plays within the first 40 minutes.
The first period was particularly chippy.
Rangers forward Chris Kreider and Canadiens defenseman P.K. Subban each received two minor penalties in a span of 4:07 in the first.
Kreider was called for unsportsmanlike conduct and Subban was whistled for embellishment for his reaction to Kreider's post-whistle shove on him at 13:05. They had an animated conversation across the penalty boxes for the next two minutes and, upon returning to the ice, Kreider went after Subban, threw his gloves and tried to get him to fight. Subban would not oblige, but they both went back into the penalty box seven seconds after leaving with matching unsportsmanlike conduct minors.
The first period ended with Lars Eller and Stepan leading a post-whistle scrum along the boards. Eller received the extra minor for roughing, putting the Rangers on the power play to start the second period.
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