Who says that The King Can't win in Montreal, eh?
Prior to Saturday's afternoon's 7-2 Rangers win over the Canadiens, Lundqvist hadn't won a game in Montreal since 2009. Five years in between wins seems like an absurd stat, but its true.
Now its history.
Henrik Lundqvist sat and watched his back up Cam Talbot start and star in two regular-season games against the Canadiens this year. Lundqvist played in the here and now and blocked out the past .
On Saturday afternoon, he owned the Canadiens in their hostile barn. It was a money performance.
The Rangers were the better team from the very beginning stages of Game 1. The Habs tried to mount a comeback but were thwarted by Hank The Bank.
"I'm really happy the way we started." - @HLundqvist30 #NYRPlayoffs #AboveAndBeyond pic.twitter.com/nrAOyMcJX8
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) May 17, 2014
Marty St. Louis got his homecoming party started early in the first period
Thanks, NBCSN
Martin St. Louis gets the #NYR Broadway Hat after today's #NYRPlayoffs win!! http://t.co/50Yezl9NRw #AboveAndBeyond pic.twitter.com/O0vjVMfdC3
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) May 17, 2014
The Habs led 2-0 after twenty minutes and 4-1 after forty minutes.
Speaking of back up tendies, Peter Budaj found himself in the Montreal net after Carey Price was lifted while trailing 4-1 after 40 minutes. It was Budaj’s first appearance in the postseason since a Game 5 appearance against the Senators in 2012-13.
Was Price injured when he was slammed into by Chris Kreider early in the second period? Right knee?
Or, had Therrien seen enough of the lethargy from his forwards and D and then lifted Price?
Therrien refused to answer questions pertaining to Price's health in his postgame presser. Inquiring minds want to know. All he would say is that he pulled Price to "protect him". Hmmmm. Protect him from what exactly?
Canada's gold medal winning goalie's health will be the main focal point of the North American hockey media and the Twittersphere until Game 2 is played on Monday night.
My take:
The Game 7 win over the Boston Bruins took an emotional toll on the Montreal Canadiens.
The Bruins-Habs series was a war. Price and his teammates need to get over the let down of losing Game 1 to the Rangers and need to focus on winning Game 2. The Rangers were first to loose pucks and they competed for the full sixty. The Habs were only engaged in the compete process for limited spurts of time. They didn't deserve to win Game 1.
I like the Habs to bounce back and win Game 2.
I see Montreal winning in this series in seven games
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