Late-game heroics lift Habs to OT victory against Rangers
Montreal gains split at home as series shifts to New York
MONTREAL (CP) — The Montreal Canadiens looked to be in serious trouble until Tomas Plekanec gave them new life with a game-tying goal with 18 seconds left in regulation time.
And when Alexander Radulov scored 18:34 into overtime, it gave a whole new look to their NHL playoff series with the New York Rangers.
Instead of heading to New York trailing by two games, the Canadiens won 4-3 on Friday night to even the best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarter-final 1-1 with Game 3 set for Sunday night at Madison Square Garden.
“Every time you win you kind of change the momentum,” said Plekanec. “You feel better about yourself and your game.
“But it’s just one game. We have to get better because we haven’t played a great game yet.”
Plekanec was put out for the final shift of the third period, with goalie Carey Price pulled for an extra attacker, because coach Claude Julien felt it was important to get the puck right away. Plekanec had a 63 per cent win rate on faceoffs in the game.
The veteran ended up redirecting a Radulov feed past Henrik Lundqvist to send the Bell Centre crowd of 21,288 into a frenzy.
Then Radulov, with his third point of the night, jammed the puck under Lundqvist from the edge of the crease in OT.
For a team that couldn’t buy a goal in a 2-0 loss in the series opener, finally getting some offence was huge for Montreal.
“I sat here and had to answer questions I felt we didn’t deserve (after Game 1) and it gave is a little chip on our shoulder,” said captain Max Pacioretty. “Obviously we didn’t want to go down 2-0 going on the road, but every shift you have a chance to make a difference in a game and everyone had that same mindset.”
Jeff Petry and Paul Byron also scored for the Canadiens, who outshot New York 45-30 in regulation time and 58-38 overall.
Michael Grabner, Mats Zuccarello and Rick Nash scored for the Rangers.
OILERS 2, SHARKS 0
EDMONTON — Connor McDavid and Zack Kassian took advantage of a sputtering San Jose Sharks power play to score two short-handed goals in the Edmonton Oilers’ 2-0 win on Friday.
The victory evens the best-of-seven Western Conference quarterfinal series at one game apiece. Game 3 goes Sunday in San Jose.
Kassian scored early in the second period and McDavid notched the insurance goal midway through the third period.
It was a dominant performance by the Oilers — and particularly by Kassian, a fourth-line winger.
Kassian drove the net effectively and delivered bone-jarring hits on Sharks’ Brenden Dillon and Logan Couture at Rogers Place. By the end of the second period fans were chanting “Kass-ee-ann! Kass-ee-ann!”
It was a reversal of Game 1, when the Oilers were outshot 44-19 en route to a 3-2 overtime loss.
This time the Oilers kept their foot on the gas pedal, outshooting and outhitting the Sharks throughout the game. Oilers goaltender Cam Talbot faced few quality scoring chances en route to the shutout.
It was Edmonton’s first playoff win since the spring of 2006.
They had missed the playoffs for 10 consecutive seasons prior to this year.