New York Rangers: Five Keys to Defeating the Montreal Canadiens
The 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs are finally here, and the New York Rangers are looking to win it all. First, though, they must concentrate on the first round and beat the Canadiens. Here are five keys on how to do it.
In the 2014 Eastern Conference Finals, the New York Rangers sent the Canadiens home in six games. Their sixth game was at Madison Square Garden in a 1-0 win where Lundqvist made arguably the best save of his career and Dominic Moore scored the game-winner.
Since that game, the long-time rivalry between these two Original Six teams has only heated up more. There’s a lot of excitement surrounding this series for that reason and many more. Here are the top five keys to beating the Canadiens in the first round.
5.) Play Buchnevich Over Glass
Playing against a strong offensive team such as the Canadiens, it is of the utmost importance for the Rangers to utilize their offensive talent. They can definitely do this by playing Pavel Buchnevich over Tanner Glass.
Buchnevich, who has eight goals and 12 assists for 20 points, can produce far more than Glass. Glass is a fighter and can definitely spark the team when in need of physicality. However, playing against the Canadiens, toughness isn’t as important as skill.
4.) Speed Beats Size
When it comes to the matchups between the bottom six players on each team, the Rangers come out on top. The Canadiens base their bottom six forwards on size alone, but the Rangers base theirs on speed.
More importantly, what this means is that the Rangers have depth. Depth beats out size every time, and the team must take advantage of the fact that they win this matchup. The Rangers should use that speed and depth of offense to their benefit by rolling all four strong lines, which they’ve proven they can do for the majority of the season.
3.) Early Shots on Price
Carey Price has been one of the New York Rangers’ biggest problems over the past number of seasons. The key to solving Price is peppering him with shots early in Game 1 of the series.
The reason for this is that if the Rangers wait around and don’t force him to make a lot of saves, he will get too comfortable in net easily. It’s important for the team to take as many shots on goal as possible right from the get-go in order to keep Price from gaining his composure.
Of course, this strategy should continue throughout the series. After a hard start in Game 1, the Rangers should keep throwing as many shots as they can at him to keep the intensity up and the speed on their side.
2.) Solid Defense in Front of Lundqvist
Henrik Lundqvist is a franchise goaltender and has been with the Rangers for a long amount of time. He knows what he’s doing in net, but a recurring problem is when his own defense screens him.
When Lundqvist can’t see the shots, he can’t make the saves, as is the same for every goaltender. The Rangers need to get their defense in better positions in front of Lundqvist.
Another important point of bettering the defense is by not having any breakdowns in front where an opposing plater is left wide open. This has happened quite a few times during the regular season, but against the Canadiens, it simply cannot happen.
1.) Concentrate on the Game…Only the Game
As pictured in the above image, the New York Rangers know what it takes. A lot of those smiling faces are the same faces that comprise the 2017 Rangers’ team now.
In that series, there was a lot of drama around Chris Kreider crashing into Price by mistake in Game 1 that sent the Montreal fans into a frenzy. Then there was Stepan’s jaw being broken by Prust.
Next: New York Rangers vs. Canadiens Coaching Preview
Fast-forwarding to now, player drama to look out for includes players such as Andrew Shaw. He’s the Canadiens’ toughest instigator, and the Rangers would do good to avoid him and any instigating after the whistle.