Montreal Canadiens at New York Rangers – MTL wins 3-2 (OT), NYR leads series 2-1
There were rumours about lineup changes for Montreal heading back to New York for Game 3. Thomas Vanek, who had gone pointless in three straight and notoriously passed the puck away on a breakaway in Game 2, was thought to be given a rest for this one. Another name floated about was Brandon Prust. Both were on the ice for warm-ups indicating both players would play. With the way that Henrik Lundqvist has played so far in this series for the Rangers, the Canadiens would need all the firepower they could muster. That means keeping Vanek in the lineup as it was just last series he had two multi-goal games against Boston’s Tuukka Rask.
New York would again be without center Derick Brassard. A scratch for Game 2 and again for Game 3, the depth forwards for New York would again be rearranged. This depth of the Rangers would be needed as the series wore on and chemistry would have to be found among their support players.
Though Montreal would be outplayed most of the first and the second period, and down a goal, Max Pacioretty would make a brilliant pass to a pinching Andrei Markov to tie the game at one apiece. Considering the Rangers outshot Montreal 14-4 in the first period and carried the play for much of the second to that point, it was a much-needed goal for Montreal.
Montreal took the lead late in the third period with a goal from Daniel Briere, his third of the playoffs. Late heroics from Chris Kreider, who was the recipient of a couple of fortunate bounces, tied the game with under 30 seconds left in the period.
The bottom nine forwards for New York were excellent through 60 minutes, much as it had through the regular season. Carl Hagelin and Brad Richards were among five Rangers forwards that were over 58-percent CorsiFor, most playing in two or three different forward combinations. Kreider and St. Louis were both over 57 percent as they rotated on that Richards line late in the game. This was what made the Rangers so dangerous as a playoff team. In Game 2, it was Nash who ended up with the game-winning goal. In Game 3, it was Kreider who tied the game. Their forward depth meant that even if one line was shut down, others were just as dangerous.
The Lars Eller line with Dale Weise and Rene Bourque — sometimes Brandon Prust — were getting dominated all over the ice (they were all under 35-percent CorsiFor for the first 60 minutes). At least parts of this line were frequently matched up with the Richards line and it showed in the underlying numbers and eventually on the scoreboard.
Alex Galchenyuk scored early in overtime, as a shot was redirected by Lundqvist to the corner but Galchenyuk happened to be driving the net and it went off of his body and in the net. It was a lucky goal and kind of encapsulated what it took for Montreal to win on a night like tonight. The Canadiens were dominated for most of the night and needed an excellent 35 save performance from Dustin Tokarski. They also needed a bit of luck to get away with a win in a game they should have lost.
One bright spot for Montreal other than Tokarski was rookie defenseman Nathan Beaulieu. He frequently was able to make smart pinches in the offensive zone to keep the Rangers from counter-attacking. Although he played just under nine minutes, he was one of few Montreal players to have fewer shot attempts against than minutes played (six against in 8:53 of total ice time).
