RANGERS VS CANADIENS GAME 4 EASTERN CONFERENCE QUARTER-FINALS

RANGERS VS CANADIENS GAME 4 EASTERN CONFERENCE QUARTER-FINALS

By: Matthew Blittner

Rangers 2, Canadiens 1:          4/18/17        Madison Square Garden

Normally the SWING GAME is Game 3 in a best-of-seven-series, but not this time. 

This time, it's Game 4, which will determine the future of these Rangers.

Down 2-1 in the series heading to Game 4 at The Garden, these Blueshirts needed to find their game that netted them 102 points this season.

Montreal has played steady throughout, yet the Rangers feel that they have to re-invent the wheel from game-to-game. Why?

Only those in the know can answer that, but good luck getting an answer. But the Rangers were sure looking to answering the call when they hit the ice for this MUST WIN GAME GAME 4.

In an effort to answer the bell, Pavel Buchnevich was inserted into the lineup and Nick Holden was brought back in after a one game benching. So Tanner Glass and Kevin Klein were riding the pine as the Blueshirts finally went with their speed and skill lineup.

OVERVIEW:

This was a much better start then in Game 3.

The Rangers came out fast with some new line combinations and registered four shots on goal in the first three minutes.

With the Rangers starting fast Montreal was attempting to match them and at 9:41 of the first, Tomas Plekanec got a bad angle shot off on Henrik Lundqvist from an odd man rush that Hank managed to stop with a sprawling save on the side of the net.

Then Lundqvist followed that up with a breakaway chance save on Andrew Shaw at 10:50 of the first, by using his glove to just get enough on the puck to keep it out of the net.

Jesper Fast then broke the suspense by scoring a goal at 11:39 of the first by sliding a loose puck under the pads of Carey Price for the 1-0 Rangers' lead.

At 13:25 of the first, Andrew Shaw was then sent to the sin bin for two minutes thanks to his tripping up Dan Girardi.

Rick Nash then drove hard to the net and bowled over Carey Price on a strong inside move that negated what would have been a power play goal at 14:21 of the first, which resulted in the teams skating four aside before Montreal went on a truncated power play.

The chippiness then continued as Alexander Radulov was then penalized for high-sticking Marc Staal at 15:59 of the first, which gave the Rangers a truncated power play.

When the power play ended, Torrey Mitchell then capitalized on a 2-on-1 odd man rush after the Blueshirts failed to clear their zone, and scored the tying-goal at 18:37 of the first, assisted by Shea Weber and Alexander Radulov.

At 19:55 Ryan McDonagh was then called for slashing Brendan Gallagher which resulted in a carry over penalty for the Montreal skaters.

A faster start for the blueshirts than we've seen so far in this series. It paid off when Jesper Fast broke the suspense by scoring a goal at 11:39 of the first by sliding a loose puck under the pads of Carey Price for the 1-0 Rangers' lead. Unfortunately it didn't last as Torrey Mitchell capitalized on a 2-on-1 odd man rush after the Blueshirts failed to clear their zone, and scored the tying-goal at 18:37 of the first, assisted by Shea Weber and Alexander Radulov. The period ended with the score tied 1-1.

The Blueshirts managed to kill off the carryover penalty and then it was back to even strength.

Rick Nash then managed to deftly handle a beautiful pass from Ryan McDonagh at 4:28 of the second period and use his long reach to poke the puck in past Carey Price for the 2-1 Rangers lead.

The Rangers then built up momentum as they proceeded to outshoot the Canadiens 10-2 through the first 15 minutes of the second period. With scoring chances aplenty, Carey price stood tall and kept the Blueshirts at bay.

Derek Stepan was called for a hooking penalty at 17:28 of the second on Max Pacioretty.

On the ensuing Montreal power play, Lundqvist made a great pad kick save on Artturi Lehkonen at 18:14 of the second.

After killing off the penalty New York ended up with a 12-4 shots advantage for the period.

These were the Rangers that were MIA in Game 3. They applied pressure early and often on Carey Price. Through 15 minutes of the period they dominated Montreal in the shots column to the tune of a 10-2 advantage. At the end of two the score stood at 2-1 Rangers.

The third period started out hot and got nasty almost immediately.

McDonagh and Radulov exchanged some nasty forechecks to the side of the Rangers' net.

At 4:13 of the third, Alex Galchenyuk got a shot off on Lundqvist who had to look behind him and just batted the puck away before it would have crossed the goal line.

Lundqvist was then responsible for keeping the puck out during a mad scramble in his crease as the pesky Brendan Gallagher was on the ice and tried to stuff in the loose puck to no avail at 6:51 of the third.

The middle portion of the third period was a back-and-forth affair as the teams traded chances but neither could quite break through for a goal.

Montreal began their standard late game push with three minutes to go.

With the Montreal net empty and 1:18 left in regulation time, Shea Weber hit the post with his standard 108 mph slapshot which just avoided going into the net, as it had New York fans and players alike horribly revisiting their memories from Game 2.

And then it was over as the Rangers finally won on home ice for the first time since 2015.

WHAT WENT RIGHT:

1. HENRIK LUNDQVIST: Another strong game as the King stopped 23 of 24 shots and stood tall on his throne.

2. FOURTH LINE IS FIRST: Once again Jesper Fast and Oscar Lindberg were responsible for some big plays as Fast scored the opening goal of the game.

3. PENALTY KILL: A perfect 3-for-3, enough said.

4. STRONG START: With four shots in the first three minutes and an early goal, the Blueshirts got off to a strong start for a change.

5. TOP GUYS RETURN: Rick Nash was a beast all night and he scored what would be the game-winning goal in the second period.

HIGHLIGHTS:

BEST SAVE PERIOD 1: With the Rangers starting fast Montreal was attempting to match them and at 9:41 of the first, Tomas Plekanec got a bad angle shot off on Henrik Lundqvist from an odd man rush that Hank managed to stop with a sprawling save on the side of the net.

Then Lundqvist followed that up with a breakaway chance save on Andrew Shaw at 10:50 of the first, by using his glove to just get enough on the puck to keep it out of the net.

BEST SAVE PERIOD 2: Derek Stepan was called for a hooking penalty at 17:28 of the second on Max Pacioretty.

On the ensuing Montreal power play, Lundqvist made a great pad kick save on Artturi Lehkonen at 18:14 of the second.

BEST SAVE PERIOD 3:  Lundqvist was responsible for keeping the puck out during a mad scramble in his crease as the pesky Brendan Gallagher was on the ice and tried to stuff in the loose puck to no avail at 6:51 of the third.

BEST GOAL PERIOD 1: Jesper Fast broke the suspense by scoring a goal at 11:39 of the first by sliding a loose puck under the pads of Carey Price for the 1-0 Rangers' lead. 

BEST GOAL PERIOD 2: Rick Nash managed to deftly handle a beautiful pass from Ryan McDonagh at 4:28 of the second period and use his long reach to poke the puck in past Carey Price for the 2-1 Rangers lead.

BEST GOAL PERIOD 3: None scored.

TURNING POINT:

Rick Nash managed to deftly handle a beautiful pass from Ryan McDonagh at 4:28 of the second period and use his long reach to poke the puck in past Carey Price for the 2-1 Rangers lead.

WHAT THEY SAID:

MATTHEW BLITTNER: "For the first time since Game 1 of the 2015 Eastern Conference Finals, the Rangers won on home ice in the playoffs."

COMING ATTRACTION: The Rangers' next game will be Game 5 of their Eastern Conference First Round matchup against the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre on Sunday April 20th. Coverage Begins at 6:00pm.       Game Time: 7pm      TV: MSG Networks or NBSCN.

BOTTOM LINE: Night and day from their abysmal Game 3 effort. The defense stood tall, Lundqvist was strong, and they got two timely goals.