The Eastern Conference has boiled down to just two teams after a memorable first round spilled over into an even better Round 2 that saw both semifinals series go to Game 7s. After the final horn sounded and the smoke cleared, the Montreal Canadiens stood tall to win the Atlantic Division bracket while the New York Rangers triumphed in their second consecutive Game 7 to win the Metropolitan Division bracket. Now, with Stanley Cup dreams even closer to a reality, these teams hit the ice in what should be a memorable series.
In the Eastern Conference, the Canadiens swept the Tampa Bay Lightning in the opening round then defeated the Boston Bruins after crawling out of a 3-2 series hole capping the comeback with a Game 7 win in Boston.
The Rangers have gone down to the wire with each division foe in the first two rounds as it defeated the Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins each in seven games, crawling out of a 3-1 deficit in Round 2.
Bruins F Milan Lucic Threatens Habs During Handshake Line
Eastern Conference Finals: Montreal Canadiens vs. New York Rangers:
These Original Six franchises faceoff in the playoffs for the 15th time, splitting their last 14 playoff series with seven wins apiece, with the last one occurring in 1996 where the Rangers beat the Canadiens 4-2 in the quarterfinals.
New York makes it to the ECF for the second time in three years and is looking to get to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in 20 years, when it last hoisted the best trophy in sports in 1994. Montreal is back in the ECF for the first time since 2010 and will be looking to reach the Cup Finals for the first time since winning it all in 1993.
The Canadiens took two of three games this season from the Rangers and the series saw a grand total of four goals.
P.K. Subban has been a spark for the Canadiens this postseason, scoring timely goals and amassing a team-high 12 points and eight assists while adding four goals. Forwards Lars Eller and Brendan Gallagher have been a force for the Habs, each netting four tallies and adding five helpers for nine points apiece through two rounds. Gallagher was a huge factor against the Bruins, notching an assist in every game.
Mid-season acquisition Thomas Vanek leads Montreal with five goals in the postseason and has added three assists for eight points. Brandon Prust may look to get under the skin of some of his former Rangers teammates in this series.
The Rangers have been able to roll four lines, which has been a big boost to the team staying energized after playing the maximum amount of 14 games through the first two rounds. New York floundered after Game 1 against Pittsburgh, losing three straight games including a brutal Game 4 on home ice.
Oddly, it took tragedy for the Blueshirts to turn it around as Martin St. Louis' mother, France, died of an unexpected heart attack during the series. The team rallied around the Rangers' trade deadline acquisition, which gave them a spiritual lift and sparked the team to three straight wins, including a Game 7 road win to bring them to the ECF.
Brad Richards, who won a cup with St. Louis in Tampa Bay in 2004, leads the Rangers through two rounds with nine points off of four goals and five assists. St. Louis and Mats Zuccarello rank second on the team this postseason with eight points apiece as each has netted three markers and five added five helpers.
Perhaps the best player for New York in Round 2 was Derick Brassard, who scored four times and had the game-winners in Games 1 and 5 against the Pens. The team will hope to get Rick Nash going, as he has no goals and five assists through the 14 games.
The Canadiens are very deep on defense with P.K. Subban and Josh Gorges locking down the top unit while the team may regret trading away Ryan McDonagh to the Rangers a few years ago as he'll be on the top defensive unit along with Dan Girardi looking to shutdown Montreal. Rangers defenseman Anton Stralman is tied for the NHL playoff lead with a plus-seven rating.
On specials team, the Rangers power play is converting at a 10.9 percent clip and its penalty kill stands at 82.9 percent. Montreal's power play has clicked at 26.3 percent and the team has killed 80 percent of its penalties.
In net, Henrik Lundqvist is one of the sole reasons the Rangers have made it this far, but he's entering a personal house of horrors. When the Rangers won in Montreal this year, Lundqvist wasn't in net. The Rangers backstop is 8-6 this postseason, ranking second in the postseason with a 1.99 goals-against average while being tied for the playoff lead with a .931 save percentage.
Lundqvist is 4-5-2 in his career in Montreal while the Rangers have scored just one goal in their last four games there.
Carey Price counters for the Canadiens, and is 8-3 with a 2.15 GAA (fifth in playoffs) and .926 save percentage (fourth).
Final Thought: This series could go either way as both teams have overcome a lot of adversity to get here. Montreal cruised in Round 1 but showed a lot of character in Round 2 when trailing the series 3-2 and coming back to win the series. New York has been on the brink of elimination four times this postseason and has shown the ability to bounce back when its back is against the wall. The Rangers lacked a killer instinct to put away the Flyers in Round 1 and it may cost them in Round 3 especially given that the Bell Centre is a house of horrors for Lundqvist. The team must win a game in Montreal in order to win the series, and with the way Lundqvist has played this postseason it is possible he will learn to put the demons of the Bell Centre behind him. The series is a tossup, but if the Rangers can get into a position where they can win one game in Montreal and do what it needs to do at home to set up a Game 6 victory on Garden ice, the team can win the series.
The Pick: Rangers over Canadiens in six.
The puck drops on the Eastern Conference Finals Sunday at 1 p.m. live from the Bell Centre in Montreal as the Rangers and Canadiens battle for a chance to play for the Stanley Cup.
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