MONTREAL – The New York Rangers continued their dominance on the road, winning Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals over the Montreal Canadiens 3-1 and taking a 2-0 series lead heading back to New York City.
One of the biggest stories heading into Game 2 was the injury to Canadiens starting goaltender Carey Price in Game 1. The injury occurred in the second period when Rangers forward Chris Kreider lost his footing and barreled into Price feet first.
With Carey Price out, it was Dustin Tokarski in-goal for the Canadiens with Peter Budaj backing Tokarski up.
The Canadiens drew first blood when forward Max Pacioretty deflected a shot past Henrik Lundqvist less than four minutes into the opening period. The Rangers answered just 17 seconds later when a shot from Ryan McDonagh found its way through traffic and into the back of the net to tie the game at 1.
The Rangers struck again near the end of the second period when forward Rick Nash ripped a shot past Tokarski to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead. The goal was the second goal in two games for Nash, who was previously scoreless in his last 17 games. With Nash’s goal, the Rangers skated into the first intermission with a 2-1 lead.
Midway through the second period, the Rangers power play, which struggled early in the playoffs but improved as the playoffs progressed, struck again. Forward Martin St. Louis snapped a shot past a screened Tokarski to give the Rangers a 3-1 lead. The goal was the fifth of the playoffs for St. Louis, who has played with emotions running high after the sudden loss of his mother.
Heading into the third period, the Canadiens were looking to score early and often and threw a flurry of shots at Lundqvist. However, the Canadiens were not able to beat Lundqvist, who finished Game 2 with 40 saves on 41 shots.
With the win, the Rangers take a 2-0 series lead back to New York, where the Rangers will look to put a stranglehold on the series. Meanwhile, the Canadiens will look to steal a win, or two, on the road and get back into the series.
The two teams will take to the ice Thursday night at 8:00 (on the NBC Sports Network) at Madison Square Garden for Game 3.
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