NEW YORK — Henrik Lundqvist earned his 41st career playoff victory and his first postseason point with an
assist.
The
only number that mattered late Sunday night was the one win the New
York Rangers need to reach the Stanley Cup finals for the first time in
20 years.
"You just have to keep the same mind-set that you had for
the first four or five games, and the last series. You don’t change
anything," Lundqvist said after the Rangers’ 3-2 overtime victory gave
them a 3-1 lead against the Montreal Canadiens in the Eastern Conference
finals. "You don’t think about what’s ahead. You’re just going in and
trying to do your job."
The Rangers know firsthand just how
quickly a 3-1 series lead can evaporate. They dug out of that hole in
the previous round against Pittsburgh.
A win Tuesday in Montreal
will put New York in the championship round for the first time since
they won the title in 1994. A loss will make Game 6 necessary at what
will be a nervous Madison Square Garden on Thursday.
"I look
forward to that challenge," Lundqvist said of the return to Montreal,
where the Rangers won the first two games of the series. "It’s exciting
to know you’re one game away. You have to motivate yourself to get to a
level where you’re helping the team.
"That’s pretty good motivation right there."
Martin
St. Louis has been providing inspiration on and off the ice in recent
times, particularly since the unexpected death of his mother the day
after the Rangers fell behind the Penguins 3-1.
St. Louis tended to family responsibilities for a day before rejoining his teammates in Pittsburgh for
Game 5.
The
Rangers, who attended the funeral for St. Louis’ mother near Montreal
in between Games 1 and 2 of this series, were galvanized as they rallied
around their grieving teammate.
New York is 6-1 since her
passing, and the latest win came 6:02 into overtime on Sunday when St.
Louis netted his sixth goal of the playoffs.
"I had some decent
looks," St. Louis said. "The puck bounced a couple of times. You just
have to concentrate on your next opportunity. You get this far, you have
to trust yourself. That’s what I try to do, and I was fortunate."
He
has 10 career postseason winning goals and 39 overall. He hadn’t scored
in a playoff overtime since Game 6 of the 2004 Stanley Cup finals when
he was with Tampa Bay.
Less than three months since being acquired
by the Rangers, he is providing memorable moments that could lead to
another championship. St. Louis has a six-game point streak — with four
goals and three assists — and three goals in this series.
"He has
been great for us ever since he got here," said forward Carl Hagelin,
who also scored his sixth playoff goal. "He shows a lot of tenacity and
emotion every time he steps on the ice."
The Rangers rebounded
from a home overtime loss on Thursday by outlasting the Canadiens, who
carried much of the play over the final two periods. New York didn’t
want to return to Montreal all even, even though it won the opening two
games of the series there.
"It would have been devastating to go
back there without getting one at home," forward Brad Richards said. "We
still have a lot of work to do, but I’d rather it be 3-1 than 2-2. It
was a very emotional time when we saw that go in."
A loose puck
came to St. Louis, alone in the right circle, and he fired a snap shot
over goalie Dustin Tokarski’s shoulder. That gave the Rangers the win
after they squandered a pair of one-goal leads.
"St. Louis had some time and picked a corner on me," Tokarski said. "It’s a game of
inches, and we came up a bit short."
Hagelin
put the Rangers in front with a short-handed tally in the first period,
and Derick Brassard made it 2-1 in the second in his return from a
two-game injury absence. Hagelin also assisted on St. Louis’ winner.
Lundqvist
made 27 saves in tying the postseason franchise record for wins held by
1994 Cup champion Mike Richter, who was in attendance. He also earned
an assist on Brassard’s goal.
"I’m really proud to be out there with those guys, and hopefully can keep it going a little
more," Lundqvist said.
Francis
Bouillon tied it for Montreal in the second, and fellow defenseman P.K.
Subban made it 2-2 in the third with a power-play goal. David
Desharnais assisted on both for Montreal. Tokarski stopped 26 shots for
the Canadiens, who went 1 for 8 on the power play.
"By no means
are we counting ourselves out," Canadiens captain Brian Gionta said.
"It’s a tough loss, it’s a bitter loss, but at the end of the day we are
still in this series. I still like our chances with two games at home."
Though
there were 13 minor penalties, there was no carry-over of the nastiness
in Game 3 when a hit by Montreal’s Brandon Prust broke the jaw of New
York forward Derek Stepan. Prust served the first game of a two-game
suspension. Stepan sat out after having surgery.
The Rangers gave
Montreal five power plays through the first two periods, and New York’s
penalty-killers stood tall. But the sixth produced the tying goal 2
minutes into the third period when Subban scored his first goal of the
series and first point in six games.
That broke the Rangers’ run of 27 straight killed penalties, dating to Game 2 of the second round.