New York Rangers Lose, Prust to Return For Game Six

Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports

The New York Rangers lost composure, played porous defense, and gave the Montreal Canadiens life in the series by loosing game five at the Bell Centre. New York’s public enemy number one Brandon Prust will return to New York for game six after serving his two game suspension. After taking eight minor penalties in game four the New York Rangers Chris Kreider took a penalty at 00:22 of the first period changing the complexion of the game entirely.  The New York Rangers are normally stout on defense and have shown they can block out the extra curricular play after the whistle. On this night though, they did neither of those things and they allowed the Montreal Canadiens to bring back their top goon. Brandon Prust received a two game suspension for breaking the jaw of New York Rangers forward Derrick Stepan on his first shift of game three.

Brandon Prust was a fan favorite of New York while he was here for two plus seasons. After leaving for more money in free agency after the 11/12 season, Brandon Prust was the model for which Rangers fans compared every other fourth line player to. He changed all that when he decided to make an attempt to gain momentum for his team by throwing a big hit in game three at Madison Square Garden. He is likely to be in the game six line-up as has been the word from the Montreal press. The hit by Brandon Prust was seemingly retribution from the Montreal Canadiens for what they think was a dirty play by Chris Kreider that injured goaltender Carrey Price. That wasn’t a dirty play at all. He was tripped and that’s the breaks in the playoffs. Teams are going to use every weapon at its disposal, especially in the playoffs. Kreider’s speed is a weapon but as fast as he is, he’s listed at 235 pounds. He’s so big, he’s unable to stop with defenseman pushing and/or tripping him. Personally, I think the Montreal Canadiens have gotten better goaltending from Dustin Tokarski than Carrey Price would have provided to them. Game five aside of course, although he made some huge saves in the third to keep his team up a goal.

After that play during game one we saw ad nauseam, the hit on Derrick Stepan by Brandon Prust early in game three. During game five the New York Rangers defenseman

hit

with a blind side check to the upper body. The two had been back and forth all game long with check after check but it’s another bad play. The hit wasn’t late by Department of Player Safety standards but it was a blind side hit. The head wasn’t the principle point of contact but Dale Weise was hit high and at some point, he was hit in the head. My point here is where does it end? Is Brandon Prust going to return to Madison Square Garden to hurt someone for John Moore’s hit to Dale Weise?

The New York Rangers let the Montreal Canadiens play their game and sunk to their level. To say the least, it’s not a strong suit for the New York Rangers. Dan Carcillo is likely gone for the rest of this series pending an in person hearing with Commissioner Gary Bettman. The way game five played out with all the nonsense, never a strong suit for the New York Rangers. The last two years anyway! Hopefully they learn from this and play between whistles next game. Otherwise, what is to repel Brandon Prust from playing cheap shot hockey and hurting someone else? Certainly not a two game suspension.

I said it before game five and I’ll say it again. Game six will be the New York Rangers best chance to end their series with Montreal. By loosing game three, the Rangers failed to step on the Montreal Canadiens. They did win games one and two, taking home ice from the Montreal Canadiens. They have to take advantage of the home ice with three wins in the series. To lose game six and have to go back to Montreal, would be a disaster for the fans and players in New York. Just end this series at home and send Brandon Prust and the Montreal Canadiens packing until next season. The fans in Montreal have no shame and it’s time to quiet them for the summer.