MONTREAL — It was such a dramatic event that Pavel Buchnevich was still emotionally recovering four days later.

The Rangers winger missed a second straight game when the Blueshirts beat the Canadiens, 5-2, on Thursday night. Buchnevich was in a car accident in Brooklyn on Sunday a passenger in his own Porsche, driven by fellow 24-year-old Russian, Igor Shesterkin. A car in front of them pulled an illegal U-turn, and they slammed into that car and then hit a parked SUV.

Shesterkin suffered a non-displaced rib fracture, set to keep him out “a couple weeks,” but Buchnevich was physically unharmed. He missed Tuesday’s wild 4-3 overtime win against the Islanders at the Coliseum, but skated on his own Wednesday and then skated here with his teammates during an optional morning skate Thursday.

He declined to speak to the media, but had posted a short statement on Instagram on Wednesday night.

“Hi Rangers fans. I just want to say thank you for all the nice [messages] you sent for me and Shesty,” he wrote. “We love the support you have given us. We are feeling better and will be back on the ice soon.”

Then an hour later, he added: “One more thing — [use] the seat belt. It really helps!!”

Coach David Quinn has had his ups and downs with the mercurial Buchnevich, who had been playing some of his best hockey over the past month. But this went beyond the rink, and Quinn was empathetic about the mental recovery process.

“He’s in a lot better place now,” Quinn said. “As much as I think he was physically scarred by it, he’s been emotionally scarred by it. It gives you a cold dose of reality when you go through something like that. You feel so fortunate. He’s getting back to his old self, and he’ll be back on the ice soon.”

Still no Henrik Lundqvist in nets, as Quinn said Alexandar Georgiev got his second straight start in nets, with Henrik Lundqvist as the back-up. Lundqvist has not started a game since Feb. 3. The Rangers next play at Philadelphia on Friday.

Julien Gauthier, from nearby Pointe-aux-Trembles, Quebec, collected his first point as a Ranger when he assisted on Mika Zibanejad’s goal at 11:06 of the second period. This was his fifth game with the team since coming over in a trade with the Hurricanes, and he got 9:55 of ice time while his line with Brendan Lemieux and Greg McKegg played well.

Brady Skjei was traded to the Hurricanes on Monday, so Brendan Smith stayed in the lineup on defense, paired with Jacob Trouba.

The Rangers have just six healthy defensemen, and Quinn said bringing somebody up would be a “game-by-game” decision.