MONTREAL — With a berth in the Stanley Cup final on the line, the Rangers played like it was a beer-league game.
And after a thrilling and heart-pounding 7-4 loss to the Canadiens in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference final on Tuesday night at the Bell Centre, the Rangers surely need a beer or two.
By way of Rene Bourque's hat trick, the Canadiens cut the Rangers' lead in this best-of-seven contest to 3-2, forcing a Game 6 on Thursday night at the Garden.
"We went through a very specific game plan with our team this morning, the areas that we want to focus on," coach Alain Vigneault said Tuesday morning. "Players are aware. They know that they need to focus on that and they know they need to stay in the moment, and they're going to be ready for it."
No one was ready for what ensued. This game was as back-and-forth as one could imagine, goals coming by the bushel in an exercise where blinking became detrimental to following the action.
"To play a good hockey game, you need desperation," said Henrik Lundqvist, who lasted just 28:58 in the Rangers nets, giving up four goals on 19 shots before he was replaced by backup Cam Talbot. "It doesn't matter if it's Game 1, 5 or 7, you have to you have to have focus in the right place."
Bourque took advantage of all the open ice given to him by the Rangers, drawing a storm of hats onto the ice 6:33 into the third period, his breakaway goal making it 6-4 and igniting the electric Bell Centre into a cacophonous din. David Desharnais made it 7-4 with a tip-in to the empty net with 4:17 remaining.
The Rangers briefly celebrated after Chris Kreider tied it at 4.Photo: AP
Yet it was really in the second period when this game went off the hinges with six combined goals, four in a span of 5:22. The first two of the period were scored by Max Pacioretty and Bourque, giving the Canadines a 4-1 lead and forcing Lundqvist from the game.
"He's been really good," Pacioretty said of Lundqvist. "At this point of the playoffs, the goalies are the best player on every team."
Quickly after Lundqvist was yanked, Rick Nash got one on a sharp-angle goal off defenseman Josh Gorges, a goal that made it 4-2 and seemed rather meaningless.
But oh, that was not the case. Instead, within five minutes, Derek Stepan got his second of the night – in his first game back after breaking his jaw in Game 3 – followed by a power-play goal from Chris Kreider, tying it at 4-4.
Yet the Habs would not let the period end before adding one more, Bourque getting his second with a little wrister from the slot, beating Talbot stick-side.
The first period could not have started any worse for the Rangers, as Kreider took a tripping penalty just 22 seconds in and Alex Galchenyuk tipped one in on the power play for a quick 1-0 lead. The Blueshirts came back with Stepan's first of the night at the 10:44 mark, but the Habs retook the lead just less than two minutes later when Tomas Plekanec fired a knucklepuck that beat Lundqvist stick-side.
"You know, the NHL 2013-2014 started the first of October with a game between Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens in an Original Six matchup," Vigneault had said. "Today is the 27th of May, you know? We're the first team this year that has an opportunity to win one and move on to the Stanley Cup Final. We're going to be ready."
Now, above all else, they have to be ready for Game 6.
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Lundqvist pulled as Rangers drop seesaw Game 5 to Canadiens
Dengan url
http://bahayaprostat.blogspot.com/2014/05/lundqvist-pulled-as-rangers-drop-seesaw.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Lundqvist pulled as Rangers drop seesaw Game 5 to Canadiens
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
Lundqvist pulled as Rangers drop seesaw Game 5 to Canadiens
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar