If the Rangers "got schooled" in their Oct. 15 shutout loss in Montreal, as irritated coach Alain Vigneault says, then the Canadiens gave the Blueshirts their Master's degrees Wednesday night at the Garden.
A late second-period push gave the hosts hope, but the Rangers were dominated in the first period and embarrassed in the third of an eye-opening 5-1 loss to relinquish the Eastern Conference's top seed.
Strangely, the battle of star goaltenders Henrik Lundqvist and Carey Price ended with Antti Raanta and Mike Condon in the teams' respective nets.
Rick Nash's power play goal at 17:42 of the middle period against Price narrowed Montreal's lead to 2-1.