Henrik Lundqvist stole the show as the New York Rangers defeated the Montreal Canadiens 2-0 at the Bell Centre on Wednesday in game one of their first round playoff series. Lundqvist was able to stave off his old demons as he was outstanding for the Rangers, stopping all 31 shots that the Canadiens directed on goal as he shut them out. With the win, the Rangers were able to steal away home ice advantage from the Canadiens, giving them that much more confidence heading into game two on Friday night.
As for the Canadiens, it was not for a lack of effort that they were unable to score any goals. They dominated the Rangers in the first period despite Tanner Glass opening the scoring midway through as jumped on a loose puck off of a faceoff won by Tomas Plekanec and backhanded the puck top shelf past Carey Price. Throughout the first, the Canadiens attack came in wave after wave as they poured 16 shots on Lundqvist. Even Claude Julien's experimental fourth line with Alex Galchenyuk, Steve Ott and Andreas Martinsen got in on the attack as they rarely left the Rangers zone in the first period.
Julien had hoped to have created four balanced lines capable of scoring y putting Galchenyuk on the fourth line. He would avoid going up against the Rangers top defensemen and so theoretically he would have more scoring chances. While the expirement was a success in the first period, the trio struggled mightily in the second period as they got hemmed in their own zone on numerous occasions. By the third period they simply did not have the same energy as the first, much like the rest of team as the Canadiens seemed content to just play out the game and move on to game two.
Galchenyuk took the demotion in stride. He never complained and was seen throughout the game communicating with his linemates on the bench, a sign of a true team player. However, as much as Ott and Martinsen are able to forecheck hard, Galchenyuk needs some skill to play with. There was little reason for him to have been taken off of Andrew Shaw and Artturi Lehkonen's line just to try to get Dwight King going. Shaw and Lehkonen were among the Canadiens best forwards against the Rangers and they could have used Galchenyuk's skill to finish plays.
Props and Flops:
Props:
Shea Weber - Simply a beast on defense. Hard to believe he was only credited with two hits as he seemed to have laid out multiple Rangers. He was an imposing presence all night long.
Brendan Gallagher - Took two minor penalties but he was in playoff mode, constantly on the puck and his line's best player by a mile.
Jeff Petry & Jordie Benn - Petry looked the best that he has in ages and that is a direct result of Benn being able to ground him. Petry looked relieved to have a partner that he did not have to worry about.
Alexander Radulov - Tried to make something happen each time he was on the ice. The points will come.
Max Pacioretty - Gave 110%. Perhaps even a little guilty of trying too hard.
Artturi Lehkonen- Did not show any jitters in his first NHL playoffs. Came close to scoring a number of times and had five shots on net.
Carey Price - Stopped 30 of 31 shots and held the fort down in the second period when the Rangers tried to add to their lead.
Flops:
Nikita Nesterov - Looked a little lost at times. Habs need a more physical presence with Nathan Beaulieu on thei third pairing.
Paul Byron - Was a bystander on Glass' goal as he was standing still and did not recuperate puck from Plejanec's faceoff win. Canadiens will need him to step up and use his speed.
Canadian teams - Montreal, Ottawa and Edmonton all lost on home ice in their return to the payoffs, having all missed the postseason dance last year (or even longer for the Oilers). All the cities were hungry for meaningful Spring hockey. However it was just game one. No need to panic yet. There is still plenty of hockey to be played.