NOTHING BUT HITS!
Rangers and Canadiens unusually physical in playoff opener
MONTREAL — The Rangers and Canadiens are two teams that thrive on speed and aren’t normally involved in overly physical affairs. But playoff hockey brings the nastiness out of everyone, and with every hit Montreal threw to try to wear the Blueshirts down on Wednesday, the visitors gave one right back, and after weathering a first-period storm they adjusted and played a superb, structured defensive game over the final 40 minutes.
It’d be nice, Rick Nash said, if the Rangers could replicate the same performance in Game 2 on Friday night, but there are so many different momentum swings throughout series, and with the Rangers having the chance to go up 2-0 in the series they’re expecting a desperate Montreal team.
“I think that we’re gonna see a different beast next game,” Brendan Smith said.
Smith had one of his better games as a Ranger Wednesday night in their 2-0 victory in Game 1, spearheaded by Henrik Lundqvist’s 31-save performance. One thing consistently noticeable about Smith since he was acquired at the deadline is the bite to his game, and it was never more evident than Wednesday when punishment was being doled out left and right. The hits were 20 apiece through one, according to the official box score, and 53-45 for Montreal at the final horn.
“Sometimes that first five minutes, it’s not really like there’s a puck alive out there,” Smith said. “You’re trying to finish (checks) and get yourself engaged. That’s gonna happen. You know what? If they’re hitting us more that means we have the puck more and that’s an area that we want to improve. If they want to keep hitting more that’s good. That means we have it.”
The Habs were also trying to get under the Rangers’ skin, an example being when Smith closed in on Andrew Shaw and delivered a big hit, only for Shaw to hold onto Smith and prevent him from getting up from the ice immediately.
Brendan Gallagher was a pest all night. There was the silliness of Steve Ott covering Lundqvist’s water bottle, and with less than half a minute left in the game there was Andrei Markov spearing Nash right in front of an official. Markov was given a 10-minute misconduct.
“It’s never fun taking one of those,” Nash said. “Everyone knows the feeling in your stomach afterwards, but it’s part of hockey.”
Ryan McDonagh, Dan Girardi and Marc Staal, the mainstays on the back end, set an example for their younger teammates, and Smith’s partner Brady Skjei did more than follow it. The rookie, who did play against Pittsburgh last postseason, was superlative in his 16:51. He didn’t miss a beat in the second period when Shaw’s helmet bloodied his nose and cut his upper lip on a hit in the corner.
Skjei's skating ability allows him to work his way out of trouble, and at 6-foot-3 with no tentativeness he can play a gritty game. For a 23-year-old he seemed to handle the electric and hostile Montreal atmosphere, and the intense pace and physicality with aplomb.
“I think I've always been pretty good at staying relaxed and not getting too caught up in the moment,” Skjei said.
It cannot and will not be as simple for the Rangers as to play such a similar game on Friday. Montreal surely will try to adjust just like the Rangers did during Game 1. But they got back to what helped them for stretches during the regular season and going back to playoff runs in recent years.
“It is a good template to come off and try to play that defense-first mentality,” Nash said.