8 out of 12.

The Montreal Canadiens finished their six game road trip yesterday and faced the New-York Rangers at Madison Square Gardens.

The Habs had the Rangers cornered late in the third period but a goal from Chris Drury who slapped in a loose puck in front of Christobal Huet’s goal tied the score at 3-3 and sent both teams in overtime.

Brendan Shanahan took advantage of a giveaway from defensemen Roman Hamrlik and scored the game winner with a very precise wrist shot. Final score: Rangers 4 - Canadiens 3.

Both Andrei Kostitsyn and Tomas Plekanec played a great game for the Habs as they both participated to every Montreal goals. Kostitsyn with 2 goals and an assist, Plekanec with a goal and 2 assists. Girardi, Jagr, Drury and Shanahan scored the Rangers goals.

So with a harvest of 8 points out of a possible 12 during this late year road trip, the Canadiens avoided a major slide in the standing like I was personally expecting. The line changes performed by head coach Guy Carbonneau came at the right time and had positive results for the team.

Next game for Montreal will take place at the Bell centre as the Canadiens will host the Tampa Bay Lightning on january 3rd.

(Picture: Brendan Shanahan, Getty images.)