The New York Rangers kicked off the 2017 Stanley Cup playoffs on Wednesday with a 2-0 win over the Montreal Canadiens.It was a battle of elite goalies playing at their highest level, but one big play from an unlikely source made the difference in Game 1 at the Bell Centre in Montreal.Tanner Glass, who had just one goal during the regular season in 11 games, scored the first goal of the night to give the Rangers the early advantage. The 1-0 score remained untilMichael Grabner added an empty-net goal with just over one minute remaining in the third period.Both Henrik Lundqvist and Carey Price were on their games in net, each producing highlight-reel plays:Lundqvist was impressive for the Rangers, coming through with a shutout after a relatively mediocre regular season.Jeff Eisenband of the Post Game described the effort:The 35-year-old finished with 31 saves and sent a message that scoring will not be easy in this series for the Canadiens.Price was solid as well with 29 saves, but the one goal allowed made the difference.While this gives the Rangers just a 1-0 lead, the roadwin is a great start to what should be a long, competitive series.Glass got New York off to a strong start when he basically shocked Price with this backhand off the faceoff, via the NHL Twitter account:Adam Proteau of NHL.com joked about the surprise of the opening score:The action continued with plenty of chances, but no one could get the puck into the net.Both sides were especially impressive on the penalty kill, allowing zero goals in seven combined opportunities in the game.Lundqvist was also there to make a stop every time the Habs came close to scoring. Britt McHenry of ESPN described the veteran's level of play:After Montreal pulled Price with over a minute remaining,Grabner made the home team pay with an empty-net goal to effectively seal the win.The Rangers could have gotten conservative after taking the early lead, but they instead outshot their opponent 26-15 in the final two periods, and the aggressiveness paid off with a win to open the series.The teams will remain in Montreal for Game 2, scheduled for Friday at 7 p.m. ET. Although it takes four wins to advance, look for the Canadiens to get desperate to avoid facing a 2-0 deficit.
Click here to read full news..
