A Winning Habit
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Montreal Canadiens: Looking Back On Their Most Recent Playoff Series

By Ken MacMillan

NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 22: Mats Zuccarello #36 of the New York Rangers scores a goal against Carey Price #31 of the Montreal Canadiens during the second period in Game Six of the Eastern Conference First Round during the 2017 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Madison Square Garden on April 22, 2017 in New York City. The Rangers defeated the Canadiens 3-1. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 22: Mats Zuccarello #36 of the New York Rangers scores a goal against Carey Price #31 of the Montreal Canadiens during the second period in Game Six of the Eastern Conference First Round during the 2017 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Madison Square Garden on April 22, 2017 in New York City. The Rangers defeated the Canadiens 3-1. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /
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Montreal Canadiens
MONTREAL, QC – APRIL 12: Montreal Canadiens and the New York Rangers in Game One of the Eastern Conference First Round (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /

Game 1

The game was a physical affair early on and Henrik Lundqvist served notice that he was better than his regular season numbers showed by making several big saves early in the game. This kept the game scoreless until midway through the opening period when Tanner Glass (of all people) scored on a backhand right after a face-off in the Habs zone to make it 1-0.

Rewatching this game and a couple of things stand out right away.

  • Andrei Markov was so patient with the puck and awesome at creating passing lanes.
  • Carey Price and Henrik Lundqvist were unbelievable in this game.
  • Andreas Martinsen, Dwight King and Steve Ott were brought in at the trade deadline for some reason.
  • Nikita Nesterov used to play for the Habs.
  • Alex Radulov and Max Pacioretty were dynamite together.
  • You don’t win puck races with Michael Grabner.

This game was all about goaltending. The Canadiens outshot the Rangers 31-30 on the shot clock, but Tanner Glass was the only player to beat a goaltender. He also was on the ice the least of any player on either team in the game, playing just over eight minutes.

Grabner added an empty net goal to make it a 2-0 final and give the Rangers a 1-0 series lead. For some reason, Dwight King played more than Brendan Gallagher in this game.

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