NEW YORK – At the beginning of the season, 30 teams play for one goal: to win the Stanley Cup. It seems fitting that, on the strength of one goal, the New York Rangers are four wins away from fulfilling it.
The Rangers closed out the Eastern Conference Finals with a 1-0 victory over the Montreal Canadiens in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals. The Rangers came out firing, looking to close out the series on home ice and avoid a trip back to Montreal for a Game 7. The Rangers outshot the Canadiens 32-18, but only managed to beat Dustin Tokarski once.
New York only managed to score after Brian Boyle found Dominic Moore right on the doorstep to put the Rangers up 1-0 with just over two minutes left in the second period.
The Canadiens had several chances in the third, but Henrik Lundqvist came up big for the Rangers.
Lundqvist only faced 18 total shots and 5 in the third period, but he saved all of them, including an acrobatic save in which, out of desperation, he knocked the puck out of midair with his blocker to prevent what otherwise would have been the tying goal for Montreal.
With the win, the Rangers clinched their first berth in the Stanley Cup Finals since the 1993-94 season in which they famously exercised 54 years of demons to end one of the longest cup droughts in NHL history. This was also the first series the Rangers won in less than seven games since the opening round of the 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs when they defeated the New Jersey Devils in 5 games.
For the Montreal Canadiens, the loss marks the 20th consecutive season that they have failed to reach the Stanley Cup Finals. The drought goes back to 1993 when the Canadiens defeated the Los Angeles Kings to win their 24th Stanley Cup, which coincidentally was also the last time a Canadian team hoisted the Stanley Cup.
The Rangers will be on the road for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals, but will have to wait to see if they will be heading to Los Angeles or Chicago (the Kings currently lead the Blackhawks 3-2 heading into Game 6 tomorrow night in Los Angeles).
The puck will drop on Wednesday June 4 in either Chicago or Los Angeles for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals.
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