Rangers even series vs. Sens
While New York stars Rick Nash and Chris Kreider receive playoff-level attention from Ottawa, Oscar Lindberg and Tanner Glass are providing an unexpected lift for the Rangers.
Lindberg scored two goals, Glass had two assists and the Rangers beat the Senators, 4-1, last night in New York to tie their Eastern Conference semifinal series at two games apiece.
“I think our line has been doing a really good job, getting pucks back from the forecheck,” Lindberg said. “We had two good chances today and we were able to bear down.”
Kreider and Nick Holden also scored for the Rangers, and Henrik Lundqvist had 22 saves.
Kyle Turris scored for Ottawa, and Craig Anderson made 17 saves before being replaced by Mike Condon for the third period. Condon finished with nine stops.
“They are a good hockey team. They came out and played their game to a T,” Anderson said. “Had their fans and the momentum. We weren’t able to get anything going.”
Senators star defenseman Erik Karlsson also left the game after the second period with an injury. Karlsson played during the first round with two microfractures in one of his feet from blocking a shot late in the regular season.
Coach Guy Boucher said he expects both Anderson and Karlsson to play in Game 5 tomorrow at Ottawa.
Glass, a forward who was scratched in the first two games of the series, has brought an edge to the team.
“Definitely tonight Oscar’s line came up big for us with a couple of big plays,” Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said. “Tanner is just playing disciplined, smart hockey and that’s what he needs to do.” The game got physical in the third period as the teams combined for 78 penalty minutes, with the majority of that coming in the final minute.
Lindberg scored both of the Rangers’ second-period goals. Glass blocked Ben Harpur’s shot and Michael Grabner grabbed the loose puck and broke in with Lindberg, who scored on a onetimer at 2:01.
Glass also helped set up Lindberg’s next goal. He outworked Senators defenseman Cody Ceci for the puck behind the Ottawa net and sent it to the boards. J.T. Miller grabbed the loose puck and passed to Lindberg at the point for a 3-0 lead at 15:54.
Kreider made it 4-0 with a power-play goal at 10:45 of the third.
“They played well at home for their two games and we played at home for our two games and we’ve got a series,” Boucher said. Elsewhere in the NHL — The expansion Vegas Golden Knights signed free agent Russian forward Vadim Shipachyov to a two-year, $9 million contract.
The 30-year-old Shipachyov had 26 goals and 50 assists in 50 games this season for SKA St. Petersburg to finish third in the Kontinental Hockey League scoring race. He added four goals and 15 assists in 17 playoff games to help St. Petersburg win its second title in three years.