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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NEW YORK, NY – APRIL 18: Henrik Lundqvist #30 of the New York Rangers reaches behind himself to grab a shot by Alexander Radulov #47 of the Montreal Canadiens (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY – APRIL 18: Henrik Lundqvist #30 of the New York Rangers reaches behind himself to grab a shot by Alexander Radulov #47 of the Montreal Canadiens (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

Game 4

The Canadiens didn’t exactly put the pedal to the floor in Game 4 in an attempt to put the Rangers on the ropes. They had a chance to come away with a 3-1 series lead with two of the final three games scheduled in Montreal, but they were pretty tentative early on before this one settled in as a goaltender’s duel between Price and Lundqvist.

Andrew Shaw, who was playing on a third line with Galchenyuk and Lehkonen, had a great chance on a breakaway but was turned aside by Lundqvist. Markov, of all people, made a mistake in his own zone when a puck rolling around the boards bounced off his foot and instead of going to his stick, ended up on Jesper Fast‘s stick as he cut to the net and slid it between the pads of Price.

Then, Torrey Mitchell took over. Seriously. He was stopped on a partial breakaway when the teams were playing at four on four, but just a couple of minutes later was sent in on a 2-on-1 with Weber after a great pass from Radulov (of course).

Mitchell fed a pass across to Weber, but got the puck back quickly and fired a one-timer past Lundqvist to tie the game late in the opening period.

Early in the second period, Ryan McDonagh held a puck in at the blue line that looked like it was leaving the zone. He quickly fired a pass down low to Rick Nash who was cutting to the net and he slid the puck under Price to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead.

The Habs came so close to tying the game in the third period. Early on, a shot from Lehkonen squeaked through the pads of Lundqvist and he couldn’t cover it. As he turned to try and find the loose puck he kicked it but it just rolled past the post and missed the net.

Late in the final frame with Price on the bench for an extra attacked, Weber (who was unreal this whole series) fired a one-timer blast from the point and rang it off the post. The Canadiens tried furiously to tie the game late like they did in Game 2, but it wasn’t to be this time. The series headed back to Montreal tied at two.

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