NEW YORK -- Kaapo Kakko scored a power-play goal with 24 seconds remaining, and the New York Rangers ended a five-game losing streak by defeating the Montreal Canadiens 4-3 at Madison Square Garden on Saturday.

Kaapo Kaako scored a power-play goal with 24 seconds left, and the New York Rangers stopped a five-game slide by topping the Montreal Canadiens 4-3.

It wasn’t pretty, but the Rangers found a way to pull out a gutsy 4-3 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday afternoon, snapping a five-game losing streak. The Rangers’ performance against the Philadelphia Flyers on Friday was dreadful. There was no sense of urgency as the team really played without any heart.

It’s been a whirlwind of a week for the Rangers, who had descended into a state of unrest amid a five-game losing streak that set off a siren throughout the organization.

The Rangers, starting a five-game homestand, were boosted by the return to the lineup of injured forwards Chris Kreider, who had missed three games with back spasms, and Filip Chytil, who’d missed seven games with an upper body injury that was deemed not to be a concussion.

It’s Thanksgiving weekend down south, so that means afternoon hockey for the Montreal Canadiens, starting Saturday against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden. Note the early puck drop at 1 p.