Rangers get early advantage on Canadiens
MONTREAL -- Tanner Glass' first-period goal helped the New York Rangers earn a 2-0 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday night at the Bell Centre in the opener of an Eastern Conference quarterfinal playoff series.
The best-of-seven series continues Friday in Montreal.
Michael Grabner added a late empty-net goal for New York, which got 31 saves from Henrik Lundqvist.
Carey Price stopped 29 shots in the losing effort for the Canadiens.
Montreal dictated the pace early on, controlling the puck and spending much of the first half of the opening frame in the Rangers' end.
New York nearly struck early in the period when Chris Kreider skated toward a loose puck for a potential breakaway. But Price reached the disc first and cleared it out of harm's way, avoiding a repeat of the collision between the two in their last playoff matchup.
But it was the Rangers who got on the board first. After Tomas Plekanec won the faceoff for the Canadiens, Glass got his stick on the puck in the right circle and lifted a backhander past Price at 9:50 of the first period.
Momentum shifted in New York's favor over the next few minutes, but fell back into Montreal's hands with a pair of back-to-back penalties against the Rangers.
Brady Skjei nearly doubled the Rangers' lead early in the second when his shot hit the post and later, Oscar Lindberg had a chance to do the same when he intercepted Price's clearing attempt from behind the net but the Canadiens netminder made it to his cage just in time to deny him.
Montreal had one of its best opportunities later in the frame on the power play. Andrew Shaw hit the post and then, moments later, defenseman Shea Weber snuck into the right circle for an attempt but was robbed by Lundqvist.
Grabner sealed the game with 1:10 remaining as the Habs were pushing for the equalizer.
NOTES: Montreal D Shea Weber and D Jordie Benn returned after missing several games with injuries. ... The Canadiens scratched C Torrey Mitchell, C/W Brian Flynn, RW Michael McCarron and D Brandon Davidson, while D Alexei Emelin remained sidelined with an undisclosed injury. ... The Rangers scratched C Brandon Pirri, LW Matt Puempel, LW Pavel Buchnevich, D Adam Clendening and D Kevin Klein.