VIEW TO A ‘KILL’
Blueshirts stymie Habs’ vaunted power play
MONTREAL — At least one of the Rangers’ special teams is contributing.
The Blueshirts’ penalty kill came up huge in their 3-2 overtime victory over the Canadiens in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series on Thursday night at Bell Centre. With the win, the Rangers took a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series.
The Rangers shut down the Canadiens’ potent power play on three-of-four chances, none bigger than killing off the gratuitous slash from J.T. Miller with just over five minutes remaining in regulation and the game tied, 2-2. They also got a shorthanded goal from Jesper Fast late in the first period that tied the game, 1-1.
“We came up huge on the penalty kill,” goalie Henrik Lundqvist said. “[The Canadiens] create a lot of chances on their power play. You have to give them credit, the way they move the puck and the way they set up guys. We worked really hard to get back in the game.”
The Rangers’ own power play remain impotent, going 0-for-2 and now is 0-for-14 on the series. The Blueshirts are the only team left in the postseason without a goal on the man-advantage.
But their only big blip on the penalty kill was in Game 3, when they allowed two goals to the Montreal man-advantage and lost that game, 3-1.
“A lot of the times, it decides the game. You saw it in Game 3, the importance of keeping their power play off the scoreboard,” Lundqvist said. “If they don’t score, they do create a lot of chances. They’re good. We have to be on our toes, we have to be on our best game to kill it off.”
The Canadiens did get a power-play goal from Brendan Gallagher 16:20 into second period — just 24 seconds after Fast scored shorthanded. The Rangers are now 14-for-17 on the penalty kill for the series, which included two in the first five minutes of the second period, when Ryan McDonagh took a slashing penalty and Mats Zucca- rello was called for a highstick, keeping it at a 2-1 deficit.
“When you do [kill a penalty], you gain confidence,” Lundqvist said. “I think in that second period, early on, we killed off some big penalties and we got going.”