Rangers stun Canadiens in Game 1 shutout.

Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images

The New York Rangers never had luck playing at Centre Bell but their victory Wednesday night was a sweet one. Two goals and a shutout resulted in their upset over the Montreal Canadiens taking Game 1 of the Stanley Cup playoffs 2-0. Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist earned his tenth career postseason shutout stopping 31 shots giving New York an important victory to begin the series.

Two of the Original Six found themselves pitted against one another for the first time in three years. The Atlantic Division champions have found themselves on a constant improvement since the controversial trade of PK Subban for Shea Weber. The former leader of the Nashville Predators has done more than just fit in well with the Habs as the team remained the best and finished atop of the standings to receive a top seed with more acquisitions along the way. The rivalry between the goaltenders would become a massive point for both defenses making things interesting in the quarterfinal series.

The Canadiens were active right from the start taking their push after stopping New York’s opening offensive attack. Team captain Max Pacioretty brought a shot in to Lundqvist who made a key stop. The Rangers netminder still had a lot of pressure on him but got out of trouble. The Rangers scored a power play four minutes in but couldn’t get a lot of shots at Carey Price in net for Montreal.

The minimizing of their penalty allowed them to dictate play and push for the chance of leading in the first period. By the midway point, the Canadiens recorded eight shots on goal holding the Rangers to just a pair. The numbers didn’t seem to matter as a big play came right off a winning faceoff in favor of New York. Tanner Glass got the immediate possession off the faceoff win and fired on a wrister top shelf beating Price. It was his second career postseason goal and having occurred with no help will be one that Montreal wished they hadn’t given up.

In response, the Habs pushed with their fourth line putting men near the Rangers net in every attempt to get one in. Lundqvist and his defense kept out any cheap shots from slipping by incensing their opponents with five minutes left. A power came to the Habs who took their chances at Lundqvist almost getting lucky. One pay saw the puck get loose with no one on the Rangers covering the shooting lines.

They were fortunate to avoid a tie but weren’t out of the woods. A penalty by Brendan Smith gave Montreal a very short 5 on 3 but another two minutes to stay a man up. Despite all their attempts to make something of their power plays, the Canadiens didn’t have the correct response leaving the Rangers in the lead after 20. Lundqvist impressed stopping 15 but aside the team having five shots the lead was the perfect stance to overshadow Montreal.

The second was surprisingly lopsided as the Rangers had control of the puck for a majority of the second. The Canadiens were quiet on the offense and had some near moments of loose pucks in front of Price that could have spelled bad things for them. They managed to save themselves midway in waking up on the offense to bring the heat back on New York. The late response was a fortunate occurrence for the Canadiens who got nine at Lundqvist but couldn’t even things up after 40 minutes.

The third saw New York still leading the way on shots taking a 5-2 run through the first five minutes. This was clearly a cause for concern in Montreal as some of their best weren’t producing enough to level themselves with the Rangers. Time was becoming a factor working against the Habs who still couldn’t get anything through on Lundqvist. The Rangers used their power on defense and reflected their success in attacking Price who had moments of vulnerability but managed to save their scoring chances.

The Habs netminder became the key source for them to increase the shots and lead for the first time since the start. With 5:36 left on the clock, referees awarded the Rangers with a key power play that could spell trouble for the home team. An important kill arrived for them cutting off the advantage for New York but left them three and a half minutes to force a chance at overtime.

Nothing was coming for the Canadiens leading coach Claude Julien to pull Price from the net with 90 seconds to go. Six men were on ice for Montreal but a great play for the Rangers allowed them to run away with an assured victory. Viktor Fast gained possession on a puck near the boards where he slapped it just enough for Michael Grabner to take off with it. It was a 2-0 lead for them with Grabner’s empty netter with 70 seconds on the clock. The Rangers did everything to avoid a major catastrophe but the Canadiens were all out of options submitting to the loss.  

Both teams ended regulation with 31 shots and both goaltenders allowing two goals combined. The loss went to Price who stopped 29 but the loss was a hard one for him and his team to accept. Their next chance would arrive Friday back on home ice in what would be their chance to level up in the series or suffer a greater problem further on.