Since the 2012 playoffs, the Rangers have won seven of eight home games in which they had an opportunity to clinch a series.

They move on to play the Boston Bruins or the Ottawa Senators, who lead that series by three games to two with Game 6 scheduled for Sunday afternoon in Boston. Despite having finished with more regular-season points than either of those teams, the Rangers, having reached the playoffs as a wild card, are assured of beginning the series on the road. It will not necessarily be a problem for the Rangers, who won two of three games in the series in Montreal and, at 27-12-2, had the league’s best regular-season road record.

Heading into Saturday night, the Canadiens’ predicament must have evoked a warm memory for their coach, Claude Julien, who confronted — and conquered — the same situation the last time he drew one of Vigneault’s teams in the playoffs: Trailing in the 2011 Stanley Cup finals by three games to two, Julien’s Bruins won two straight against Vigneault’s Vancouver Canucks to win the title.

As if conjuring that experience, Vigneault commanded his current team to seize the moment.

“I believe we’ve got every right to be urgent tonight,” Vigneault said Saturday morning, “so we are going to be urgent.”

Early on, that urgency manifested itself in some ways for the Rangers — Jimmy Vesey’s tussle with the Canadiens’ Max Pacioretty, and persistent physical play along the boards — but not when they possessed the puck. It took almost eight minutes before the Rangers registered their first shot on Montreal goaltender Carey Price, and by then they trailed, 1-0.

The Rangers’ defensive negligence allowed Radulov, a force all series, to shovel a loose puck through the crease to Alexei Emelin, who ripped a wrist shot past a screened Lundqvist at 6:19 of the first period, for Emelin’s first goal in 29 career playoff games.