The Rangers drew first blood in the Eastern Conference Finals with a convincing 7-2 win over Montreal on Saturday. There were a few interesting pieces in the win to me but also some areas of concern and focus. It may seem a bit odd to find flaws/concerns in a 7-2 win, and while there aren't as many of them as positives, they still exist.
Game Highlights:
The Positives:
Who says you can't go home again? - Martin St. Louis, who had the wake on Friday and will bury his mother, France, in Laval on Sunday, opened the scoring at 4:35 on a brilliant backhand pass from Dominic Moore. - Moore, who played for Montreal, was double-shifted when Derick Brassard was sidelined after a hit by Mike Weaver. All he did was play 16:36, show surprising speed and add a second assist on a goal by Mats Zuccarello at 6:27 via a between the legs dish to McDonagh, who got a piece of the puck which Zucc buried. - Ryan McDonagh, selected 12th overall by Montreal in 2007 and was dealt to NY in the Scott Gomez trade, had a game of historical significance for the Rangers. His goal, on the power play, and three assists tied a Rangers' record with four points in one game (by a defenseman). Brian Leetch (twice), Brad Park and Dave Maloney were the others to do it. - Alain Vigneault, back to where he started his coaching career, pushed all the right buttons, especially in moving Moore up to fill in for Brassard.
What Bell Centre house of horrors? - Henrik Lundqvist's struggles at this arena were well documented. Saturday, he stopped 20 of 22 shots but that doesn't tell the true story of how well he played. When Montreal made their second period rush, Lundqvist stoned PK Subban, who gained the zone with a burst of speed, Max Pacioretty and then made a glove save on Prust on a 2-on-1 with 1:18 left in period with the score 2-1. Right after that, Chris Kreider scored, then Brad Richards tallied 49 seconds later and it was all she wrote. - The seven goals by New York far exceed the FOUR scored in Montreal the last nine visits there.
Speed/Forecheck: - Montreal may have been used to playing Boston and not ready for the speed New York showed through the neutral zone. The second goal came about after a faceoff win in the defensive zone and it was off to the races. The third by Kreiderat 1:01 left in the second came on a pass that missed at blue line and hit him in stride as he blew past Andrei Markov and Alexei Emelin. Getting Kreider back in Game 4 against Pittsburgh was a major turning point for NY, other than the St. Louis tragedy galvanizing the team. The fourth goal also came about due to Zuccarello's speed, as he created space and then dished it to Richards for the nail in the coffin at :12 in the second. - The forecheck after the dump in on the second goal created the opportunity. In the first, New York was good on the forecheck. They were't great most of the second and in the third, it wasn't needed following the three PPG, but when the game was in doubt early, they were strong.
Strong start/Score First - We spoke a lot about how important a good start would be, since the crowd would be electric and loud. Two goals the first 6:27 set the tone. - The Rangers are now 8-2 these playoffs when scoring first while Montreal is 1-4 when they don't.
Special teams: - New York scored three PPG their first eight chances against Philly, then went a record-tying 36 straight without scoring. The three straight wins in Games 5-7 were partially driven by the power play with goals by Kreider (Game 5) and Richards (Game 7). Saturday, after failing early, the Rangers scored three PPG in a 3:08 span in the third to blow the game open. Granted, the SHG allowed by Lars Eller leaves a bad taste in my mouth but hard to argue with three PPG.
Here were the goals: Early penalty in third by Subban, then lucky bounce off Tomas Plekanec skate by half-boards on a pass and a blast by McDonagh at 1:28. Max Pac roughing against Staal, then Prust retaliates against Kredier, who hit Price at 3:15 at second and may have injured his right knee, though it did not look intentional. Prust slashed Kreider on his surgically repaired left hand and speared him low. I understand the retaliation as he is defending his goalie and didn't want to do it when the game was in doubt, but a really stupid way of going about it. New York responded with a PPG on the 5-on-3 by Stepan off a beautiful feed by St. Louis at 4:11. Finally, Nash gets one barely through the arm and blocker of Budaj, who replaced Price to start the third, for a PPG at 4:36. His first goal of the playoffs and first since Game 1 against Boston last year.
- Montreal entered Game 1 on a roll, going 10-for-28 the first two rounds, but were 0-for-3 Saturday.
The negatives:
Brassard's injury Came on second shift of the game at 3:03 on an open-ice, offensive zone hit by Mike Weaver.
http://twitpic.com/e423yf
Brassard didn't see him coming, though maybe he should have been aware of his presence. It sounds as if the the injury is to his back and trainer Jim Ramsey was trying to massage the injury before Brassard determine he couldn't go. If it his back, this would not be the first time he had an issue with it, as it tightened up during practice before Game 1 of the playoffs against the Flyers. Brass has been big this post-season with four goals overall, including several key ones, and three assists the first 14 games.
If he can't go, Moore could move up to that line as he did Saturday with Dan Carcillo or Jesper Fast replacing Moore on the fourth line at right wing and Boyle going back to center. The other possibility is to dress JT Miller and play him on the Zucc line. One good item is that if Brass can't go Monday, the schedule helps, since after Game 2, there are three days to Game 3 on Thursday and and three more to Game 4 on Sunday.
Poor Second Period: - Yes, I know they scored with 1:01 and :12 left in the period, but until that, they weren't good in the stanza. The second frame was an issue against Philly and at times against Pittsburgh. I am unsure if it's a lack of focus or let down after a strong first, but it has to stop or it could cost them a series. Too many turnovers and they allowed Montreal to go through the neutral zone with speed. Fortunately, Lundqvist was very good in that frame or the lead could have been lost easily.
History: - The Bell Centre streak has been put to rest for one game. But, they are still 0-13 with a chance to go up two games in a series and 0-for-8 in Game 2. If they win Game 2, these are footnotes to conversation, but until then, it will be brought up over and over.
Montreal is a proud franchise and will come out a lot stronger in Game 2. As good as New York was in Game 1, they will need to be even better to withstand what the Canadiens throw out them. Price should rebound and look for Montreal to do a better job limiting the Rangers open space and speed through the neutral zone, which were big keys in the win, so it will not be easy in Game 2. In addition, while the seven goals were nice, forget it. The win is the same regardless of how many goals were scored, it's good to know that you can score, which started to be the case in Game 5 against Pittsburgh, but it still was only worth one win in the series.
Rangers (Metro Division) vs. Canadiens (Atlantic Division) - Eastern Conference Finals Game 1: Rangers 7 Canadiens 1, Sat., May 17 Game 2: Rangers at Canadiens, Mon., May 19 at 8PM (NBC, CBC) Game 3: Canadiens at Rangers, Thu., May 22 at 8PM (NBC, CBC) Game 4: Canadiens at Rangers, Sun., May 25 at 8PM (NBC, CBC) Game 5*: Rangers at Canadiens, Tue., May 27 at 8PM (NBC, CBC)* Game 6*: Canadiens at Rangers, Thu., May 29 at 8PM (NBC, CBC)* Game 7*: Rangers at Canadiens, Sat., May 31 at 8PM (NBC, CBC)*
Back Monday with a Game 2 preview.
Let's Go Rangers!!!