Stanley Cup Playoffs: Canadiens outlast Rangers in Game 5

Thanks to a Rene Bourque hat trick the Montreal Canadiens are still in it thanks to a wild 7-4 win in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Final.

There was no penalty called, but the NHL is sure to take a look at that on Wednesday. Not a terribly smart move.

The call was for elbowing, but it’s not clear if he actually hit him with the elbow or if he simply followed through with the elbow after the hit. But either way, three things are true here: 1) He hit him in the head, 2) It was a late hit and 3) It was a dumb hit given the situation.

Montreal’s Brandon Prust was suspended two games earlier in the series for a similar hit on Rangers forward Derek Stepan. That hit left Stepan with a broken jaw and kept him out of the lineup for Game 4 of the series.

The second period in Montreal on Tuesday night was perhaps the craziest 20 minutes of hockey in the NHL this postseason.

And after watching the replay, it was the right call.

Montreal would add another goal late in the period from Rene Bourque to take a 4-1 lead, prompting Rangers coach Alain Vigneault to pull Henrik Lundqvist for Cam Talbot.

[GIF via @MyRegularFace]

In his four postseason starts since, he has played about as well as anybody in Montreal could have hoped, and has, at the very least, given his team a fighting chance.

Little bit of luck there? Sure. But that’s hockey sometimes.

Stepan was injured in Game 3 after he was on the receiving end of a late hit from Canadiens forward Brandon Prust. Even though Stepan returned after the hit, it was later revealed that he suffered a broken jaw and had to miss the Rangers’ 3-2 overtime win in Game 4.

Prust was suspended two games for the hit.

The Prince of Wales Trophy will be in the house on Tuesday night in Bell Centre, but the 20,000-plus in attendance hope it doesn’t make an appearance.

“The only way he’s going to play tonight is if he gets full medical clearance,” Vigneault said. “That’s not going to be up to him. It’s going to be up to our medical staff to make sure that they feel he can play. There are a lot of things that have to fall into place for him to play tonight.”