The Montreal Canadiens host the New York Rangers in the second game of their first-round series on Friday night at the Bell Centre. The Rangers stole game one on the road with a 2-0 victory. Their goalie, Henrik Lundqvist, picked up the win and saved all 31 shot attempts. Canadiens goalie Casey Price took the loss and went 29-for-30 on saves. Both teams had an even 31 shots on goal and equally won 28 face-offs. New York has a 1-0 lead in the series. Puck drop for the second game will be at 7:00 PM Eastern time and the contest can be viewed on USA Network.
Rangers (4th Metropolitan [1st Wild Card], 49-28-6 overall, 28-12-2 away, 38-45 ATS)
New York opened up the scoring in the first period with Tanner Glass putting in an unassisted goal at the 9:50 mark. After a contentious battle throughout the second period with no score, the same action continued through the third period. It wasn't until Montreal made desperate moves at the end of the game that Michael Grabner was able to seal the contest with a goal at the 18:50 point. He had an empty net and Jesper Fast was given the assist. Four different players were assessed a two-minute penalty in the game.
There are no injuries to report for the Rangers, but Rick Nash was able to shake off getting speared in the groin by Montreal late in the game.
Canadiens (1st Atlantic, 47-27-9 overall, 24-13-5 home, 43-40 ATS)
Montreal was feisty and aggressive in the contest, but none of it translated to any goals as they were shut out in the opening game of the series. Brendan Gallagher was sent to the penalty box three times for tripping, roughing, and holding -- each of them coming in seperate periods.
However, it was Andrei Markov that got the major 10-minute foul for misconduct. He speared Nash in the groin right in front of the refs, but he will not face further suspension from the league.
Defender Alexei Emelin (10 pts) has missed the last three games for the Canadiens and isn't expected to be in this game. He last registered a point against Florida on March 30th.
Betting on Rangers and Canadiens
The public is generally hitting on Montreal, their moneyine raising as high as -154 in some sportsbooks. New York opened up at +123 and can be found as high as +139 in some areas. Goal total is set at 5. The Canadiens' three-game winning streak against the Rangers was snapped on Thursday night. They are still 11-5 in their last 16 games against Eastern Conference opponents.
