St. Louis starts Rangers’ rout, Nash scores in opener
MONTREAL — Martin St. Louis and the New York Rangers had a reason to smile in the midst of a weekend of sadness.
St. Louis, who will attend his mother’s funeral with his teammates today, scored the opening goal of the Eastern Conference finals to pace New York’s suddenly high-powered offense in a 7-2 rout of the Montreal Canadiens yesterday.
New York got goals from six other players, including former Blue Jackets captain Rick Nash, and Henrik Lundqvist quieted talk of a Montreal jinx in a 20-save effort. It was his first victory at the Bell Centre in more than two years.
The Rangers have wrested home-ice advantage away from the Canadiens, heading into Game 2 of the series on Monday night in Montreal.
“It was an emotional time for everyone, but the guys have been behind me and supported me,” said St. Louis, who received a long ovation from the crowd when he was named the game’s first star. “My teammates are behind me and supporting me, and their effort was unbelievable.
“We feel really close right now and we’re trying to keep feeding off that.”
The Rangers galvanized and drew inspiration from St. Louis after his mother’s death before Game 5 of New York’s second-round series against Pittsburgh.
The Rangers haven’t lost since, winning four straight — including three on the road.
Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said his team is trying to support St. Louis while staying focused on playing a sound team game.
“Emotionally, for us, that is something really strong right now,” Vigneault said. “I know quite a few of our guys went to the wake (on Friday), and I texted with Marty last night to make sure that everything was good.
“He’s handled it in an incredible way that probably has helped our team come closer together. (Today) is going to be a tough day. We need to be there to support him, and we’ll do that and get ready for Monday.”
Mats Zuccarello, Chris Kreider, Brad Richards, Ryan McDonagh, Derek Stepan and Nash also scored for the Rangers, who had only four goals in their past nine visits to Montreal.
“We’re all happy to see Nasher score because he’s taken a lot of heat,” Richards said. “That’s a little weight off his back.
“We won the game. When you’re in the playoffs, when it’s 7-1, no one’s jumping up and down about who scored goals.”
Lundqvist hadn’t played in Montreal since allowing four goals on Jan. 15, 2012. His last victory there was March 17, 2009.
Playing in his hometown, St. Louis scored 4:35 into the game. He found an unguarded spot near the net and put Dominic Moore’s pass into an open side behind Carey Price, who lasted only two periods.
Price appeared to injure his right leg early in the second when Kreider slid into him after shooting wide on a breakaway. Price remained in the game, but was pulled after giving up two goals late in the second.
Canadiens coach Michel Therrien said Price wasn’t injured, and was replaced by Peter Budaj to start the third because the team was playing so poorly in front of him.
“Good thing it’s a sevengame series and we have a chance to get back in it on Monday,” said Montreal’s Rene Bourque, who scored one of the Canadiens’ goals. “I think we had a little bit of an emotional letdown after the Boston series.”
Rangers center Derick Brassard, another former Blue Jacket, left the game in the first period after taking a hard hit from Canadiens defenseman Mike Weaver.