At times they haven't made it easy on themselves this postseason, but with their 1-0 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night, the New York Rangers punched their ticket to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 1994.
New York Rangers advance to Stanley Cup Final for first time since 1994
The Rangers used a dominating third period and an 18-save shutout from Henrik Lundqvist to reach the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in 20 years.
Andy Marlin-USA TODAY Sports
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They did it without a captain and a new coach. They needed to win a pair of Game 7s, including one on the road. They needed to overcome a 3-1 series deficit in the second round. They needed to overcome a 10-game stretch where they received zero goals from their two most talented players (Rick Nash and Martin St. Louis).
But thanks to a deep, talented roster that had three or four lines that could score on a given night, some spectacular play from Ryan McDonagh and arguably the best goalie in the world playing some of the best hockey of his career they have an opportunity to end a 20-year Stanley Cup drought.
Their clinching win on Thursday was a clinic in how to close out a game and a series.
After getting a goal from Dominic Moore and their fourth-line late in the second period to break a scoreless tie, the Rangers didn't fall into the same trap that doomed so many other teams this postseason and kept pushing the play in Montreal's direction. They completely suffocated the Canadiens on the rare occasion they touched the puck. With their season on the line and in a one-goal game, Montreal managed just five shots on goal in the third period, and only three of them before they pulled goaltender Dustin Tokarski for the extra attacker.
It was as dominant as a 1-0 game can be this late in the playoffs, and if not for the stunning play of Tokarski in the Montreal crease this game probably wouldn’t have been close.
Other than Thomas Vanek’s shot in the second period that required a nearly impossible blocker save from Lundqvist, the Canadiens rarely mounted a serious threat around the New York net and went out with a whimper. Part of that was on them, but a lot of it was simply the result of a New York team that’s steadily improved as the season has progressed and has been playing some of its best hockey of the season at the right time.
Whether they play Chicago or Los Angeles in the Stanley Cup Final, the competition is about to get a lot better.
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