Rangers at Canadiens
Any playoff matchup between two of the NHL's Original Six rivals, the Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers, is tantalizing enough on paper. Factor into the equation that a duel between goaltenders Carey Price and Henrik Lundqvist is the main subplot and it adds up to an intriguing first-round series, which gets underway Wednesday night in Montreal.
While neither goaltender is enjoying his best season, the matchup conjures up memories of the last time the clubs met in the postseason -- when Price was hurt in a collision with New York's Chris Kreider in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals and knocked out of the series. The Rangers won in six games to advance to the Stanley Cup final and Kreider, New York's leading scorer this season, became persona non grata to Montreal fans. "It's funny, I've been asked about the rivalry like 10 times and that's not even an incident that crossed my mind," Canadiens captain Max Pacioretty said. "It just shows that's something the outside world talks about that we don't really talk about in here." Atlantic Division champion Montreal won all three meetings this season against the Rangers, including both games at Madison Square Garden.
TV: 7 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, TVA Sports
ABOUT THE RANGERS (48-28-6): New York ranked among the top five teams in scoring and had four players record at least 22 goals, led by Kreider, who establish career highs with 53 points and a team-leading 28 goals. In his fifth season, Kreider has registered 20 goals in 65 postseason games and vowed not to let the incident with Price alter his style. “For me to be effective, I need to get to the crease. That’s where I’m going to score goals,” Kreider said. “It’s the playoffs. I think everyone’s going to try to lift their physical play a little bit."
ABOUT THE CANADIENS (47-26-9): Price emerged from a midseason funk and allowed seven goals while winning all three matchups against New York, but Montreal's other indispensable player, Pacioretty, provided a waiting-to-exhale moment at Tuesday's practice. The team's leading goal scorer by far with 35 tallies, Pacioretty was forced to leave the ice when he was inadvertently high-sticked in the left side of the face by teammate Michael McCarron. He will be re-evaluated Wednesday, but coach Claude Julien said: "We're very optimistic he'll be OK."
OVERTIME
1. Lundqvist is 14-17-3 with a 2.87 goals-against average versus the Canadiens and 4-9-2 with a 3.97 GAA at Bell Centre.
2. Canadiens F Paul Byron netted a career-high 22 goals this season but has one tally in eight games versus the Rangers.
3. New York owned the league's best road record at 27-12-2.