NEW YORK (AP) -- The season is only two months old and the games are already critical for the struggling New York Rangers.

The Rangers responded Friday night -- a day after general manager Neil Smith held a players-only meeting -- with a 3-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens that gave New York its first home victory in nearly six weeks.

	Rangers goalie Mike Richter ushers Montreal's Scott Thornton out of the crease on Friday night at Madison Square Garden.

"He just laid it all on the line and let us know what was going on, and I think we all appreciated it," defenseman Mathieu Schneider said of Smith's talk. "Basically it was very professional, no yelling and screaming."

Mike Knuble scored the go-ahead goal early in the second period for the Rangers, who won at Madison Square Garden for only the fourth time and first since Oct. 17.

"I thought that we played the game we needed to tonight to win," Schneider said. "I thought we had the crowd's support. I think everyone was a little nervous coming in, not knowing what to expect."

New York, ahead of only the New York Islanders and the expansion Atlanta Thrashers in the Eastern Conference, was 0-5-1 during its winless home streak. The Rangers are coming off a 1-4 road trip with a regulation tie.

"We battled pretty hard tonight," goalie Mike Richter said. "It is one win with many we need to get. That is what you need to do, start with one."

Montreal dropped its second straight contest after having a four-game win streak snapped Wednesday.

"We knew that they were going to be ready," Montreal coach Alain Vigneault said of the Rangers. "For some reason right now it's not clicking for them, but they've got a lot of potential."

Knuble gave the Rangers a 2-1 lead with his fifth goal 3:58 into the second. Kim Johnsson passed a bouncing puck to Knuble who one-timed a wrist shot past Jeff Hackett.

The Rangers, who outshot the Canadiens 11-4 in the second period, widened the lead on Eric Lacroix's second goal of the season with 2:23 left in the period. Kevin Stevens worked the puck free behind the net and Todd Harvey moved it to Lacroix who beat Hackett to the stick side.

Montreal, 5-0-1 against New York in the last six meetings, closed to 3-2 with 8:26 remaining when Craig Rivet scored his second goal from Oleg Petrov.

The teams continue to be plagued by injuries. The Rangers lost Valeri Kamensky with a wrist injury in the first period, and played without center Petr Nedved who hurt his groin during Thursday's practice.

Trevor Linden missed his first game since spraining his ankle in the Canadiens' loss to Dallas on Wednesday. He is expected to be out at least 2-4 weeks. Montreal is going with nine regular players out of its lineup, including four of the club's top six defensemen.

The Rangers took a 1-0 lead on Adam Graves' power play goal with 2:23 remaining in the first period. Kevin Hatcher scored his sixth goal of the season on a pass from Schneider.

"We wanted to establish ourselves and not put ourselves behind the eight ball," Tim Taylor said.

New York's power play, ranked last in the league, connected for just the eighth time in 98 opportunities.

Montreal tied the game 56 seconds later on Jason Ward's first NHL goal.