Montreal Canadiens Playoffs Game 17 Away game 9 | Thursday May 29, 2014 | Rangers win third round series 4-2 |
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Game Recap:There was a general feeling from both teams that if the Canadiens were able to bring the series back to the Bell Centre for Game 7, they would be going to the Stanley Cup Final. The Habs hoped that would happen while the Rangers were determined to end the series in Game 6. The Canadiens couldn’t muster any threat going the first half of the first and third periods without scoring chances. In fact, the Rangers coaching staff counted just five for the Habs all game, probably the easiest playoff shutout ever by Henrik Lundqvist. Plus / Minus ▲ Dustin Tokarski, Alex Galchenyuk, Tomas Plekanec, Mike Weaver ▼ Nathan Beaulieu, Thomas Vanek, Francis Bouillon, Daniel Briere, Brandon Prust, Michael Bournival |
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Boxscore:
| FINAL | 1 | 2 | 3 | – | – | T |
| Canadiens | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 0 |
| Rangers | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 1 |
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Shots on Goal:
| FINAL | 1 | 2 | 3 | – | – | T |
| Canadiens | 5 | 8 | 5 | – | – | 18 |
| Rangers | 11 | 8 | 13 | – | – | 32 |
| NHL Three Stars | ||
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| Post-game Press Conference |
- “I thought that the kid did a fabulous job. [Dustin Tokarski] gave us a chance to win every night that he was there. Yes, we lost our best player early in the season in Carey Price, or in that series, I mean, but we had confidence in the young man. Dustin was, as far as we’re concerned, he was really, really good.”
- “I’m not sure that [Carey Price] would have been ready for the first game (of the Stanley Cup final) but he was making some progress. It’s really tough when you start a series and you lose your best player. But the young kid did a great job, but we were hoping that Carey was going to be ready for the first game of the next round.”
- “[The Rangers] played a perfect defensive game.”
- “We made some big progress this year. I’m proud of this hockey team. We battled hard through the regular season and we battled hard in the playoffs.”
Forward Max Pacioretty
- “[Dustin Tokarski] bailed us out a number of times in the series, and tonight we got no pressure on (Henrik) Lundqvist. It’s not easy to fill Carey Price’s shoes, but he did all he could.The whole game was frustrating. … We didn’t generate enough offense at all and that was the difference.”
- “We weren’t able to get pucks to the net. We weren’t able to get bodies to the net. Obviously that’s a good team over there, but we’re a good team too, and it didn’t feel like we threw our best at them tonight. And that’s what’s going to be thought about a lot over the summer.”
- “[Dustin Tokarski] played unbelievable. If he didn’t make a name for himself the first couple of games, tonight he really did. He’s a winner.”
- “A night like tonight, our backs were against the wall. We’ve been in that position before but there in the third period it almost seemed like — myself especially — guys were panicking. We got away from our game.”
- “You have success against a team like that, maybe you feel too good about yourself. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what went wrong. But that could be one of them. Because we feel like we could have matched up pretty good against the Rangers but obviously didn’t put up the effort we needed.”
- “We played our hearts out for two series and then have a little bit of a letdown this series and it’s too late.”
Defenseman Josh Gorges
- “We just couldn’t seem to find anything to get what we needed in the third. Give them a little credit, they stayed on top of us, they didn’t give us any clean looks or any opportunities to make clean plays. But in those situations you’ve got to do something.”
- “It’s tough because we’re so close. And we’re right there. I’m a little bit lost for words because I’m still trying to process this. I’m still stunned. It’s tough.”
Defenseman P.K.Subban
- “Their goaltender played really well. [Henrik Lundqvist] did a lot of good things to keep their team in the game and that’s what you need. I thought our goaltender did the same.One bounce, that’s all it takes.”
Goalie Dustin Tokarski
- “The guys battled hard and gave it everything they got, just came up a hair short. It’s pretty tough. I had this opportunity to be two wins away from a Cup Final, it’s going to be hard to come by again. It was a heck of a series.”
- “It was such a great feeling to see how we responded from the last game. The third period tonight, I think we played our best period of the playoffs. When it mattered most the guys really stepped up. It was awesome to be back there and see the way we took charge and earned this victory.”
- “Going into the playoffs you talk about it is a roller-coaster mentally. You have so many highs. You have a few lows where you’re questioning a lot of things, but then you just have to make up your mind. You can’t have any excuses.”
- “I kept telling myself all day, ‘Believe in what you’re doing.’ I’ve been in that spot before. You just have to stay confident.”
- “You have to expect any goalie that comes in to play at this level, that they’re going to be good. They’re going to help the team, and he definitely kept them in a lot of the games. So for me, I try to challenge myself and try to be better, but [Dustin Tokarski] was really good.”
Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault
- “We played, in my book, probably our best game of the playoffs. You have to give Montreal a lot of credit. It’s a good organization. They played really hard. It was a tough series.”
- “We challenged our group a little bit this morning after the performance we had in Montreal. We knew we’d have to be good and for our guys under this pressure tonight, we definitely didn’t want to go back to Montreal.”
- “We gave them one chance in the first, four in the second and nothing in the third. It shouldn’t have been a 1-0 game. But you got to give their goaltender a lot of credit. He played outstanding.”
- “We managed the puck a little bit better. When we lost the puck, we knew when they caught us in Montreal that they like to play a fast game, and they like to stretch things out. We didn’t let that happen tonight. We were able to have five-men units all over the ice. Five guys in the picture most times, and that really helped us defensively.”
To look back at the full lineups for tonight’s game, check the Game Day preview.
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