MONTREAL — This changes things. Drastically.

The Rangers looked over the edge and stared into the abyss. It is not hyperbole to say that the season looked as if it was spiraling out of control and wholesale changes might be on the way. The near-future looked like it was going to be ugly.

Then, all of a sudden, it wasn’t. All of a sudden, this Rangers season took a huge breath of life. They came back from the dead.

Erasing a 4-0 second-period deficit, the Rangers had one of the most dramatic comebacks in recent memory, taking a 6-5 victory over the Canadiens in the din of the Bell Center on Saturday night.

“I couldn’t be prouder of these guys,” coach David Quinn said in a dramatic about-face less than 24 hours after he ripped into his team following a desultory 4-1 loss in Ottawa.

This win sits in the context of that loss, in the location of the high stage of hockey, in the course of the first quarter of a season that has been hugely inconsistent for the Rangers (10-9-2). It is a sign that this young team does have some resolve, and they don’t always crumble in the face of adversity, or of success.

“We’re happy we came back, that shows a lot of resilience in our group,” said Brendan Lemieux, who had two goals — including a shorthanded tally at 8:40 of the third that tied the game, 5-5 — all with half a front tooth, a busted lip, and a Hall-of-Fame shiner under his left eye.

“Down four goals, anytime you’re able to do that — any game, any league — in Montreal, it feels a little better for some reason,” said Lemieux, whose father, Claude, made his name with the Canadiens in the 1980s. “For me personally, and for a lot of guys, it’s a special place to play. It feels good to win in here.”

For so long, it was looking like just another loss that would be fuel to the fire of frustration, one that was clearly turning into anger. Goalie Alexandar Georgiev was looking helpless, having allowed four goals on the first 20 shots; two to Max Domi, one to Artturi Lehkonen, and then a Shea Weber blast that snuck through at 2:51 of the second period to make it 4-1.

Quinn considered pulling Georgiev, and even had Henrik Lundqvist warming up in the hallway. But the thought of the 21,302 fans smelling blood in the water was too much. Quinn stayed the course, just as his team did.

Filip Chytil started the comeback when he scored at 6:10, then Pavel Buchnevich scored 56 seconds later, and then Lemieux got his first of the game on a deft tip of an Adam Fox shot at 9:30. In that span of just over three minutes, it went from 4-0 to 4-3 and the whole complexion changed.

“You could feel the passion, even at 4-0,” Quinn said. “Guys never wavered, they were never out of it.”

The Canadiens managed to make it 5-3 when Lehkonen got his second at 5:20 of the third, but this was a story about resiliency, right? Just 31 seconds later, Artemi Panarin finished an all-world blind pass from Chris Kreider to make it 5-4.

The Rangers’ previously horrid penalty kill was then put on the spot when Panarin got called for interference. Instead of collapsing, however, they made the biggest play of the night — a great saucer feed from Brett Howden to Lemieux for the slam-dunk, somehow making it 5-5 at 8:40 of the third.

Of course it wasn’t a highlight-reel goal that won it. Instead, it was a Jacob Trouba point shot that snuck through a Kreider screen and under the arm of goalie Carey Price, trickling over the goal line to make it 6-5 with just under eight minutes to play in regulation.

From there, the Rangers held on for dear life — and dear life is what their season received.

“Just really, a great win and a great effort,” Quinn said.