The New York Rangers are headed to their first Stanley Cup Final in 20 years thanks to their 1-0 win in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final on Thursday night.
Canadiens vs. Rangers Game 6 final score, highlights and reaction
Bruce Bennett
0 - 1 NYR Wins, 4-2
3 things to know
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Party like it's 1994
They needed to win a pair of Game 7s, overcome a 3-1 series deficit and do it all without a captain and with a coach in his first year with the team, but the New York Rangers were able to get through all of it and get back to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 1994. And it was probably fitting that on the night they punched their ticket back to hockey's greatest stage, Alex Kovalev was in the house rocking his 1994 championship gear. Dominic Moore scored the only goal in New York's 1-0 Game 6 win and Henrik Lundqvist stopped all 18 shots he faced in what was a rather dominating performance by the Rangers. The only real chance Montreal had at any point was Thomas Vanek's second-period shot that required an acrobatic blocker save from Lundqvist. -
Montreal Didn't Show Up
Say this for Montreal: Dustin Tokarski gave his team a chance. And really, that's all the Canadiens could have asked for when starting goalie Carey Price went down earlier in the series. He was pretty much the only Canadien that showed up on Thursday and had it not been for him putting together what might have been his best performance of the playoffs this game could have easily turned into a laugher. If you want an idea as to just how flat the Canadiens were (and how dominant the Rangers were) just look at the fact they managed only five shots on goal in the third period of a one-goal game with their season on the line. Only three of the shots came over the first 17 minutes, while the other two came in the final two minutes after they pulled Tokarski for the extra attacker. About the only thing Montreal did to make highlights was throw some scissors around in the middle of the game (Seriously. They really did that). -
The Rangers' depth comes through again
One of the great things about this Rangers team in the postseason has been that even when its top players aren't scoring they're still able to get by because their third and fourth lines are both capable of putting the puck in the net. They might have the best third line in the NHL right now, and on Thursday it was fourth line that came through with the big goal when Dominic Moore capped off a wonderful shift for the unit by scoring his third goal of the playoffs. Your top guys aren't going to score every night (and the Rangers have found that out better than anybody this postseason) so it's vital that your bottom lines aren't just a bunch of pluggers and can actually play. Fortunately for the Rangers, their guys can.
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