Playing without their starting goalie and deciding to go forward with the untested Dustin Tokarski in net, the Montreal Canadiens had the best possible start to Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Final against the New York Rangers. They spent the first 10 minutes swarming around the Rangers' end of the ice and creating several quality scoring chances, only to have them all turned aside by Henrik Lundqvist.
Max Pacioretty, Ryan McDonagh exchange fluky goals in Game 2
Sometimes goals in the NHL are a work of art. These two goals are not.
But hockey is a weird, crazy and sometimes cruel game.
And after all of those chances, and all of the great saves by Lundqvist, the Canadiens finally broke through when Max Pacioretty was credited with his fourth goal of the postseason. However, he didn't really have to do anything except wait for the puck to take a couple of weird bounces.
That lead lasted just 17 seconds.
On the ensuing shift, Ryan McDonagh's shot from the point deflected off the butt of Canadiens' defenseman Josh Gorges and beat Tokarski on just the second shot he faced all night. Welcome to the NHL playoffs.
Sometimes the bounces go your way. Sometimes they don’t. And sometimes, if you’re lucky, they’ll even themselves out.
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