Let’s be honest right off the bat here. Not many predicted that the Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers would be the two teams facing off in this postseason’s Eastern Conference Final. I know I didn’t.
Let’s start with Montreal. When the Canadiens completed a four-game sweep of the Tampa Bay Lightning in Round 1 the following question came to my mind (and I’m sure it came to many of yours as well). Are the Canadiens really that good of a team or were the Lightning just that bad? Well folks, we now have our answer. While the hockey world expected (and received) an incredibly intense series between the sport’s two most bitter rivals, I am willing to bet that not many could have expected this outcome, a Game 7 victory by Montreal, in Boston. Or should we have, since the team that scored the first goal in each of the prior six meetings in the series won every game.
Nonetheless, it was no secret that the Boston Bruins came into these playoffs as the Stanley Cup favorite. And it wasn’t until Danny Briere chipped in a power play goal off big Zdeno Chara’s skate to make it 3-1 with 3 minutes remaining in the third period, that I realized that the team to beat in these playoffs had just been beaten, changing the entire landscape of the remainder of the postseason in my eyes. This is only the second time since winning their NHL-best 24th Stanley Cup that Montreal has reached the third round of the playoffs.
Now we move on to the Rangers. After eliminating the Philadelphia Flyers in a hard-fought seven-game series, next up was Pittsburgh, who was coming off of a less-than-convincing series win over huge underdog, Columbus Blue Jackets. While Pittsburgh did not impress many in that Round 1 victory, they still came into their second round tilt with New York as the favorite. After the Penguins’ Game 4 victory at the Garden, a New York rally from a 3-1 series deficit seemed highly improbable. After all, the Rangers had never accomplished that feat in its 88-year history as a franchise. Well, as they say, there is a first time for everything, and the highly improbable happened on Tuesday night in Pittsburgh, when the New York Rangers posted their third win in a row to knock off the Penguins in Game 7, advancing to the Eastern Conference Final for the second time in three years.
Not many can argue the fact that two of the stars of the final two or three games of each semifinal series for both the Canadiens and the Rangers were their netminders, Carey Price and Henrik Lundqvist, respectively. Until Bruins’ forward, Jarome Iginla, scored late in the second period of Game 7 on Wednesday, Price had been on a shutout streak of 103:46, going back to the third period of their Game 5 loss at TD Garden.
Lundqvist on the other hand, stopped 102 of the 105 shots he faced over the final three games of his series, including 35 saves in Game 7 on Tuesday at the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh. King Henrik, who we can also refer to as King Clutch, is now 10-2 when facing elimination. While the Carey Price vs. Henrik Lundqvist matchup is sure to be one of the more intriguing headlines of the upcoming series, there is one matchup between two individuals that many may not be thinking of as a potential difference-maker in this series. But I do.
Dale Weise vs Rick Nash
The play of Dale Weise of the Canadiens and Rick Nash of the Rangers have been surprises thus far this postseason, with one being a pleasant surprise, and the other, not so much.
The Pleasant Surprise – Dale Weise
While a number of Montreal’s star players who have been expected to produce this postseason, have indeed done so (i.e. P.K. Subban, Max Pacioretty, Tomas Plekanec and Brendan Gallagher), it has been the play of Dale Weise that has caught my eye of late. Weise was acquired by Montreal from Vancouver on February 3, 2014, in a trade that sent defenseman, Raphael Diaz to the Canucks. In 17 regular season games for the Habs, Weise posted three goals and one assist, totaling four points (3g-1a-4p). In Montreal’s 11 games this postseason, Weise has really taken his game to another level, lighting the lamp three times and adding two helpers (3g-2a-5p), including game-winning goals in Game 1 of the Tampa Bay series and Game 3 of the Boston series. If Weise can bottle up the energy sparked by recent spats with Boston’s bad boy, Milan Lucic, and unleash it in the upcoming Eastern Conference Final series, he will no doubt be a major factor for the Montreal Canadiens, in what is appears to be a fairly balanced matchup against the Rangers.
A chance for Redemption – Rick Nash
Will New York’s sleeping giant wake in time for the upcoming series vs. Montreal? By sleeping giant, I am referring to Rick Nash. Nash, who led the Rangers in goal-scoring with 26 during the regular season, is yet to light the lamp in 14 games this postseason (0g-5a-5p). I truly feel that the play of Rick Nash will be a critical factor in the outcome of this series for New York. The Rangers need Nash to step it up and find the goal-scoring touch he had during the regular season, to take less of the weight off the shoulders of King Henrik, who, in my eyes, has carried this team during the three-game comeback vs. Pittsburgh.
I would not be at all surprised if the Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers take this series to 7 games, in what will undoubtedly be an exciting one between these two Original Six rivals.
Canadiens Versus Rangers Predictions
Jeff Howard (@lwosjeffh) – Canadiens in 7
Ben Kerr (@lastwordbkerr) – Canadiens in 6
Ken Hill (@lwospuckhead) – Rangers in 7
Dom Simonetta (@dasimonetta) – Rangers in 7
Dan Rocchi (@d_rocchi) – Canadiens in 6
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