Montreal Canadiens New York Rangers Series Re-Cap

May 29, 2014; New York, NY, USA; Montreal Canadiens goalie

(35) and New York Rangers goalie

(30) shakes hands after in game six of the Eastern Conference Final of the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Andy Marlin-USA TODAY Sports

The New York Rangers defeated the Montreal Canadiens 4 games to 2 in the best of seven semi-final.

Game 1 in Montreal was a disaster for the Canadiens as they got beat on the score board 7-2.  They lost the best goaltender in the world Carey Price when Chris Kreider fell feet first on his own on a breakaway and did not try to stop from crashing into Price and Price was lost for the remainder of the series.

Game 2 was much better for the Canadiens and they had the advantage with plenty of offensive end zone time and they got a great game from rookie goaltender Dustin Tokarski but lost the second game of the series 3-1.  The Rangers were on their heels for most of the game but the Canadiens couldn’t beat Henrik Lundqvist.  The Canadiens outshot the Rangers 41-30.

In Game 3 Montreal needed a win on the road to keep this series from going 3 games to nothing and the Rangers came out hard and controlled most of the game.  Montreal managed a late goal with 3 minutes left in the game to take the lead but the Rangers scored in the last minute on a lucky goal to tie it up.  But the Canadiens didn’t fold and scored 1:12 into overtime on a goal by Alex Galchenyuk that went off his chest on a shot by Tomas Plekanec.  There was also the late hit by Brandon Prust on Derek Stepan that broke Stepan’s jaw and saw Prust get suspended for 2 games for the hit.

Game 4 Montreal deserved a better fate as they fought hard to get the series tied up but couldn’t beat Lunqvist.  They carried the play for most of the game and Galchenyuk hit the cross bar late in the third but couldn’t beat Lundqvist in overtime and as has happened so many times after Montreal had chance after chance the Rangers got their one chance and Martin St.Louis buried it to win the game 3-2 and they took a 3-1 series lead.

Game 5 was total domination for the Canadiens except for a few minutes in the second period.  They started quick and had a 4-1 lead, chased Lunqvist from the game but squandered the lead in a short span and let the Rangers back in the game as they scored 3 goals to tie it up 4-4.  But Montreal didn’t give up or bow their heads and Rene Bourque led the way with 3 goals on the way to a 7-4 win and set up a game 6 in New York.  John Moore blind sided Dale Weise with a late hit and was suspended for two games for the hit.  Weise was knocked out of the game and the series with what is a suspected concussion.  There was also a head butt from Derek Dorsett on Mike Weaver late in game 5 which was not called and there was no suspension for the illegal hit.

Game 6 was an intense battle but the weary Canadiens didn’t put up much of an offensive fight and the Rangers came away with a 1-0 victory to win the serried 4 games to 2.  There wasn’t much action and the Rangers played a pretty boring style of hockey and the Canadiens had no answer 5 on 5 or on the powerplay.

The Rangers advance to the Stanley Cup final against the Los Angeles Kings or the Chicago Blackahawks.