Game 1 Open Thread: Rangers at Canadiens
Here we go.
It's finally here.
Game 1 of the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs for the Rangers has arrived. The Blueshirts are in Montreal to take on the Canadiens in the postseason for the first time since the 2014 Eastern Conference Finals.
- The Other Team's SB Nation Home: Eyes On The Prize
- Montreal's Home Record: 24-12-5
- New York's Road Record: 27-12-2/
The Rangers are looking to prove something to the critics and cynics by getting past the first round of the 2017 Playoffs. Most Rangers fans wanted a match-up with the Canadiens, but it might not be long before we start hearing "be careful what you wish for."
The battle between Henrik Lundqvist and Carey Price will be a major story line in this series - and it should be.
Montreal is one of the few teams in the league that can boast better goaltending than the Rangers. Price is a legitimate superstar and has played like one this season.
Note: stats above are from 5v5 data.
We know that the Rangers are rolling with Tanner Glass tonight. We should expect a fair bit of sandpaper and nastiness in tonight's contest. We might even see some fisticuffs. Whatever the case may be, the Rangers can't afford to give Montreal power plays. They're out-classed by the Habs in special teams play by a significant margin (if we're talking about recent history).
The Rangers projected lines tonight:
Chris Kreider - Derek Stepan - Mats Zuccarello
Jimmy Vesey- Mika Zibanejad - Rick Nash
Michael Grabner - Kevin Hayes - J.T. Miller
Tanner Glass - Oscar Lindberg - Jesper Fast
Marc Staal - Nick Holden
Brady Skjei - Brendan Smith
Hank
Montreal's projected lines:
Max Pacioretty - Phillip Danault - Alexander Radulov
Paul Byron - Tomas Plekanec - Brendan Gallagher
Dwight King - Andrew Shaw - Artturi Lehkonen
Alex Galchenyuk - Steve Ott - Andreas Martinsen
Nathan Beaulieu - Nikita Nesterov
Price
Montreal captain Max Pacioretty took a stick to his face near his eye in yesterday's practice, but he is good to go for tonight's game.
The puck drops a little after 7:00pm tonight (NBCSN, CBC, TVA Sports, MSG).
Live stream available through NBC Sports: Link here.
Let's go Rangers.
