The Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers meet in the first round of the 2017 NHL playoffs, in a series that could go seven games.
The Montreal Canadiens last won the Stanley Cup in 1993. The following season the New York Rangers ended their 54-year drought and won the Stanley Cup. This season, both original six teams are looking to end their championship drought.
The Canadiens and Rangers were built-in a similar fashion. Both teams are built from the net out. Henrik Lundqvist has been a rock inside the Rangers net for years, but his play slipped this season. Montreal relies on former league MVP Carey Price to carry them to wins. Both goalies will be the key to their teams’ post-season success.
Both teams also feature top defensive defencemen on their rosters. Rangers captain Ryan McDonagh and Montreal’s Shea Weber are both workhorses for their teams. Both defenders averaged more than 24 minutes of ice time during the regular season. In the playoffs, both players could average even more minutes.
Defensively, Montreal allowed the fourth fewest goals in the NHL this season. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the Rangers scored the fourth most goals this year. While the Montreal offense and the Rangers defense rank in the middle of the pack. The relatively evenly matched teams could lead to a seven game series.
For whatever reason Lundqvist struggles in Montreal. The Swedish goalie has struggled his entire career inside of the Bell Centre. If the Canadiens get an early lead in any home game, expect the home crowd to let King Henrik hear about it. The Rangers will need Lundqvist to come up big on the road if the Rangers are going to advance in the playoffs.
The biggest question about the Canadiens is their secondary scoring. The Montreal roster produced only two 20-goal scorers, Max Pacioretty and Paul Byron. If the Rangers are able to shut down Pacioretty, Montreal is going to be desperate the find someone else who can score. Despite scoring a career high 22-goals, the Canadiens can not count on Byron to score in the playoffs. Prior to this season, Byron’s career high was 11-goals. If the Canadiens are going to advance they are going to need Alexander Radulov, Alex Galchenyuk and Artturi Lehkonen to find the back of the net.
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Prediction:
Although the Canadiens won all three regular season games this season, do not expect them to beat the Rangers so easily again. The Canadiens take the first two games at the Bell Centre. Optimism is high in Montreal, but the Rangers rally to take both games at Madison Square Garden. Montreal takes advantage of home ice with a win in game five. In game six, the Rangers escape with a narrow victory at Madison Square Garden. Montreal finally takes the series with a great performance from Price in net.
Canadiens win the series 4-3.