TUESDAY, APRIL 18TH: HABS VS RANGERS GAME 4 ROUND 1 PLAYOFFS
GAME DAY
MONTREAL CANADIENS
Max Pacioretty - Phillip Danault - Alexander Radulov
Paul Byron - Tomas Plekanec - Brendan Gallagher
Artturi Lehkonen - Alex Galchenyuk - Andrew Shaw
Dwight King - Steve Ott - Torrey Mitchell
Andrei Markov - Shea Weber
Jordie Benn - Jeff Petry
Nathan Beaulieu - Brandon Davidson
PRICE
Montoya
NEW YORK RANGERS
Jimmy Vesey- Derek Stepan - Rick Nash
Chris Kreider - Mika Zibanejad - Pavel Buchnevich
J.T. Miller - Kevin Hayes - Mats Zuccarello
Oscar Lindberg -Jesper Fast - Michael Grabner
Ryan McDonagh -Dan Girardi
Marc Staal - Nick Holden
Brady Skjei - Brendan Smith
LUNDQVIST
Raanta
SERIES RECAP
Game 1: New York 2 (Empty Net Goal) – 0 Montreal
Unlikely hero Tanner Glass scores the game winner with a backhand top corner
Grabner seals the deal late with an empty net goal
Game 2: Montreal 4 – 3 New York (Overtime)
Habs go up 2-1 in the first period only to lose the lead later in the game
Plekanec ties the game up with less than 25 seconds in regulation and Radulov seals the deal late in the first overtime
The Habs’ 58 shots were the most the New York Rangers have ever allowed in a playoff game. Thank you Bell Center shot counter bias
Game 3: Montreal 3 – 1 New York
Montreal takes it to the Rangers early but Lundqvist plays stellar and looks like he might be intent on stealing the game
Habs continue to control much of the play but the checking is extremely tight
It felt like the Habs simply needed a power play in order to get a little more room on the ice
Just as the doctor ordered, the Habs were given their first opportunity on the power play late in the second period and Lehkonen made no mistake scoring the first goal of the game from the slot off of a set play from Plekanec and Gallagher.
Shea Weber would score another powerplay goal off a nice feed from Galchenyuk in the third to put the Habs up 2-0 and Radulov would later pot a candidate for goal of the playoffs with only one hand on the stick to close the curtains on the Rangers’ hopes.
Brady Skjei would score a late goal for the Rangers to end Carey Price’s shutout hopes but it would be the final goal of the game with the end result being Montreal 3 – 1 New York
SERIES STATISTICS
SOG
MONTREAL 31+58+29= 118 SHOTS ON GOAL (39.33 PER GAME)
NEW YORK 31+38+21=90 SHOTS ON GOAL (30 PER GAME)
SPECIAL TEAMS
MONTREAL PP 0/3 + 0/4 + 2/3 = 2/10
NEW YORK PP 0/4 + 0/3 +0/3 = 0/10
MONTREAL PK 4/4 + 3/3 + 3/3 = 10/10
NEW YORK PK 3/3 + 4/4 + 1/3 = 8/10
PENALTY MINUTES
MONTREAL 13+20+6 = 39 PIM
NEW YORK 15+8+6 = 29 PIM
HITS
MONTREAL 53 + 55 + 31 = 139 HITS (46.33 PER GAME)
NEW YORK 45 + 73 + 41 = 159 HITS (53 PER GAME)
TEAM LEADERS
MONTREAL
Goals: Radulov (2)
Assists: Radulov (3)
Points: Radulov (5)
Penalty Minutes: Markov (10)
Shots: Pacioretty (17)
Hits: Byron (16)
Time of Ice: Weber (28:36)
NEW YORK
Goals: Grabner (2)
Assists: Stepan (1), Fast (1), Smith (1), Vesey (1), Lindberg (1), Klein (1), Zibanejad (1), Holden (1)
Points: Grabner (2)
Penalty Minutes: Zucarello (12)
Shots: Rick Nash (10)
Hits: Skjei (17)
Time of Ice: McDonagh (26:40)
GOALIES
Carey Price 2-1 89 shots 84 saves .944 1.53
Henrik Lundqvist 1-2 118 shots 111 saves .941 2.16 1 shutout
KEYS TO THE WIN FOR NEW YORK
Can New York finally find some life at home?
Score first
Stay Disciplined (1/3 on PK last game)
KEYS TO THE WIN FOR MONTREAL
Can the Habs continue their strong play?
Continue to throw rubber at the net and outshoot New York (39 shots per game)
Compete physically