Habs Topple Rangers Behind Lang's Hat Trick

January 8, 2009 8:55 a.m. EST

New York, NY (AHN) - Robert Lang registered his second career hat trick, helping the Montreal Canadiens get past the New York Rangers, 6-3, Wednesday night.

Montreal jumped a point ahead of the Rangers into fourth place in the Eastern Conference.

After Montreal took a 3-2 edge on a power-play goal by Andrei Markov in the third stanza, the Habs capitalized on a two-man advantage.

Lang gathered the rebound from Andrei Kostitsyn's missed attempt before blasting it home behind Rangers' goalie Henrik Lundqvist at 4:40, for his first goal of the night.

New York then made it a one-goal game, but Lang restored Montreal's two-goal edge during 4-on-4 play with 4:31 left in the contest.

In the final minute, Lang finished his hat trick with short-handed empty-netter, as Montreal notch its seventh win in its last nine contests.

Lang, a 15-year-veteran, registered his first hat trick with Washington on Nov. 12, 2003.

Alex Kovalev and Guillaume Latendresse each added a goal in the win.

Jaroslav Halak, playing in place for injured All-Star starter Carey Price, made 36 saves to earn the win.

Chris Drury, Ryan Callahan and Michal Rozsival each had a goal for the Rangers, who absorbed their fifth loss in their last seven games.

Lundqvist stopped 19 shots in defeat and did not play as well as he did in his previous start, a shutout win.

Montreal finished the game 2-on-4 on the power play, while the Rangers were 0-for-3.

The Canadiens' power play came into the game rated as the fourth-worst in the NHL, converting only once in 22 chances in their last five games.