Rangers end home losing streak to even the series with Habs

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A massive amount of effort saw the Rangers producing a must win at Madison Square Garden Tuesday night. New York pushed the Canadiens into submission scoring two goals that led them through Game 4 victorious in a 2-1 victory.

The Rangers found themselves in a bit of trouble going into the fourth game where they struggled on home ice to defend well against the Habs. The vulnerabilities allowed Montreal to push hard and create pressure for them and goaltender Henrik Lundqvist to deal. It was the sixth loss at home dating back to 2015 in the conference finals. With the notion standing heavy on their shoulders, the Rangers response from the opening faceoff would be crucial to keep the series even.

The Rangers came out with a tremendous show of force in the opening minutes rushing in front of Canadiens netminder Carey Price to get a puck in early. He managed to stop them but the sudden response from his team helped ease the early tension as New York made their intentions clear. The Habs found time to switch things up and go in on Lundqvist with Brendan Gallagher making every attempt to get the puck behind the goalie. It led him and Rick Nash to get into a hold between one another that looked like it would go on for a time.

It was the key moment that saw that New York was showing how serious they were to be the forceful ones laying out seven hits against Montreal in the first five minutes. As the game neared the halfway point of the first period, the Rangers increased the shots on goal putting six at Price. Montreal tried to change things up every time they got the puck but despite their good chance on a short breakaway that Lundqvist made every attempt to stop.

Lundqvist was showing some great moves stopping a scoring chance from Andrew Shaw followed by a quick reflex on the pads that cleared the puck away. After a TV timeout, the Rangers did well on the faceoff in the neutral zone winning their way to go to Montreal with possession. The first goal of the game arrived with many near the Montreal crease where an easy tap of the puck by Jesper Fast got through Price and handed him his first of the postseason.

They almost had another one during their first power play but a drive into the crease caused Nash to collide with Price to negate the rest of the power play. They caught a break to play the rest of their power play as the Canadiens suffered another penalty while the Rangers were warming up.

Montreal doused them with a great fight for the puck where Alexander Radulov and Torrey Mitchell went on Lundqvist setting up a great play that left Mitchell with a wide-open net and the tying goal with 1:23 left in the period. It was enough to take all the air out of the crowd and the team as the period came to a close. The Habs took a 12-10 run on shots to the net while once again winning the majority of face offs through 20 minutes.

A significant move came in favor of the Rangers to start the second as they dictated the first five minutes. It was their core mission to get the game leading goal at all costs. On a great steal in the neutral zone, New York moved the puck between Ryan McDonagh and Nash who got a sliding chance to put it by Price and notch his second of the series. The Habs continued to search for their first on Lundqvist which took eight and a half minutes to get their first of the period. In that span of time, the Rangers had seven in the Canadiens zone wanting to secure a sizable margin while they had the time to do so.

While they kept their focus of keeping the lead in the third period, the Canadiens were desperately hunting for the tying goal that could change the course of the game and the performance of their rivals. Montreal was starting to spend a lot more time in the Rangers zone looking for any opportunities to beat Lundqvist in net. The veteran Swede did his best to keep them to just one goal while assisting his team from allowing any significant moves by the Habs.

They knocked out a good chunk of time that left just five minutes left in regulation for anything to occur. The Rangers were playing great coverage every moment that the Canadiens had the puck in possession. 2:28 was left and it was clear that Price was going to come off the ice to put six attackers on. They hadn’t recorded a shot in over seven minutes leaving them desperate for something to happen.

Price came off with 90 seconds to go where Shea Weber rifled a shot just seconds later that rang off the post. It didn’t stop them from shooting like crazy in the Rangers zone where they continued to come close to locking down the second goal that would force overtime. The Rangers had chances to put one into the open net but couldn’t get one in. They had to rely on the time falling off the clock fast and holding Montreal at bay. New York held on through the final 30 seconds that ended a losing streak at home and a boost of confidence that had them dead even in the series.

“I think we were trying to get to the net, trying to get their D to turn It ended up working out tonight,” said Nash to NBC reporter Ray Ferraro. “Might have been better in the third but that’s the way it goes.” “I think we had to get the home crowd into it. Our home record hasn’t been that great so it’s no secret we were trying to bring the energy and try to bring ourselves out.

Lundqvist brought his best of the night that had many of the home fans cheering him on from start to finish. By the final horn, he had stopped 23 finishing with a .958 save percentage. For the first time in the series, Price was shown to be most vulnerable having dealt with 30 on the night but unable to be at his best.

He and the Habs would have a chance to play they hoped when they return to Centre Bell Thursday night in a Game 5 showdown that would clearly put either team into a lead in the series.