Spiele » rs over the Spirit in Game 4 of their first-round matchup. Brendan

NEW YORK, N.Y. - When other parts of their game are sputtering, the New York Rangers have two solid-gold assets to fall back on. Penalty killing and goaltending. Its a combo that has helped the Blueshirts to within one victory of their first Stanley Cup final in 20 years. And it has frustrated the Montreal Canadiens, who must win Game 5 Tuesday at the Bell Centre to stave off playoff extinction. With a 17.1 per cent strike rate — good for 19th during the regular season — the Montreal power play was hardly a well-oiled machine. But against the Rangers, the Canadiens are 1-for-17 with the man-advantage. Montreals lone power-play breakthrough came Sunday night in a 3-2 overtime loss at Madison Square Garden. And that P.K. Subban blast from the point was tempered by a short-handed goal by Carl Hagelin that opened the scoring. The Canadiens power play went 1-for-8 on a night where the Rangers spent 14.33 minutes or almost 22 per cent of the game a man short. "Give credit to our (penalty) killers and our goaltender," said Rangers coach Alain Vigneault. "They did a real good job." That is nothing new. Prior to Subbans goal, the Rangers had killed off 27 straight penalties. New York is 37-for-39 (94.9 per cent) on the penalty kill in its last 12 games The penalty count was three to one against the Rangers by the 10-minute mark Sunday, the perfect scenario for a Montreal team looking for a decisive start to silence the Rangers crowd. "We had the opportunity on the power play but we didnt take advantage of it tonight," lamented Montreal coach Michel Therrien. "Yes, we scored a goal. It was a tying goal, but we gave up one, and that was the story of the game. I thought our power play had to be better." The Rangers go-to forward pairing on the power play is Hagelin and Brian Boyle. Hagelin is a speed merchant while the Boyle resume reads "big body, blocks shots, good on faceoffs," according to Vigneault. Boyle can also pass a bit, finding Hagelin all alone on a stretch pass deep from the New York end. Hagelin broke in alone, faked a shot and tucked a backhand between the legs of Dustin Tokarski at 7:18 for his sixth of the playoffs. It was the Rangers first short-handed goal in 70 playoff games, dating back to April 9, 2008. The New York penalty kill is smart and sleek. Goalie Henrik Lundqvist has worked hard on his puck-handling and his defenders are well-positioned. If a Ranger gets to the puck first behind the net, for example, there is usually a teammate standing just feet away ready to dump it down the rink. "I think our guys do a good job whether it be on the forecheck coming back in the right positions and trying to create those battles where youve a chance to make a couple plays and get it out," said Vigneault. "When we dont, (our) goaltender stops the puck." In four games, Montreal has seven goals on 107 shots. While Tokarski has won kudos for his play in stepping in for the injured Carey Price, Lundqvists playoffs numbers are sparkling — a .931 save percentage and 1.98 goals-against average. The Rangers have allowed two goals or less in 13 of their 18 playoff games., including six of the last seven games. New York ranks first in the NHL in goals against per game in the playoffs at 2.11. Sundays win was the 41st post-season win of Lundqvists career, tying him with Mike Richter for the most playoff victories in Rangers history. The 32-year-old Lundqvist ranks first in Rangers history in regulation wins with 309, eight more than Richters 301. In contrast, the 24-year-old Tokarski has 13 NHL games —10 in the regular season and three in the playoffs. Lundqvist picked up an assist on Derick Brassards second-period goal, his first in 85 post-season games. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, he is the first Rangers goaltender to record a playoff assist since Mike Richter on May 11, 1997. With Game 5 coming up fast, the main Ranger talking point will be whether Derek Stepan can return from a broken jaw suffered in Game 3. On the weekend, he managed to drop by the arena to see his teammates before returning home to recuperate from surgery. Brassard, meanwhile, returned to the lineup Sunday after being knocked out of Game 1 early with an upper body injury and made his presence felt. In addition to his goal, he led all skaters with 18 faceoffs wins, winning 75 per cent of his 24 draws. New York is winning the faceoff battle. On Sunday, the Rangers took 48 of 79 draws for a 61 per cent success rate. Martin St. Louis hot hand is also of note. His OT winner Sunday Louis extended his point streak to six games (4-3—7), tying a playoff career high in the post-season. He leads the Ranges with 13 points in these playoffs. NOTES— Hagelin was Sundays recipient of the Broadway Hat, a battered black fedora given to the player judged by his peers to be most instrumental in a Rangers win ... The Rangers are 12-1 all-time when they lead a playoff series three games to one. Cheap MLB Jerseys From China . Bozak and Clarkson suffered the injuries in pre-training camp workouts, according to Carlyle, who said they made "small amounts of improvement" from Friday to Saturday. After the players were deemed less than 100 per cent by doctors after Thursdays medical testing, the Leafs held them out of on-ice testing and are being cautious. MLB Jerseys 2020 .com) - Hassan Whiteside scored 20 points with nine rebounds in the Miami Heats 83-75 win over the Boston Celtics on Sunday. https://www.mlbjerseys2020.com/ . Dragic was a game-time decision because of a sore right ankle that had kept him out of Wednesdays loss at Utah, but played all but the last 10 seconds of the second half in the first 40-point game for a Phoenix player since Amare Stoudemires 44 on March 19, 2010. MLB Jerseys From China . Louis Cardinals pitcher Jaime Garcia will have surgery on his left shoulder this week and is expected to miss the rest of the season. Cheap MLB Jerseys Authentic . The 30-year-old Texas native was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 20th round of the 2001 amateur draft. Duke spent six years in Pittsburgh and also had stints with Arizona, Washington and Cincinnati.SUDBURY, Ont. -- Danny Desrochers scored the eventual winner as the Sudbury Wolves avoided elimination with a 2-1 win over the Barrie Colts in Game 4 of their Ontario Hockey League first-round series Thursday. Trevor Carrick scored a power-play goal to give Sudbury a 1-0 lead in the first period, and Desrochers made it 2-0 with his goal halfway through the second. Zach Hall replied for Barrie with a power-play goal at 12:36 of the third period to spoil Franky Palazzeses shutout bid. Palazzese stopped 31 shots in the win, while Colts goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood made 21 saves in the losing effort. --- KNIGHTS 4 SPITFIRES 3 WINDSOR, Ont. -- Bo Horvat scored in the third period to lift London to a four-game sweep over the Spitfires. Gemel Smith, Max Domi and Brady Austin also scored for the Knights, and Jake Patterson made 34 saves. Ben Johnson and Sam Povorozniouk had a goal and an assist apiece for Windsor, and Ryan Foss scored in a last-ditch effort at 19:22 of the third to cut Londons lead to a single goal. Spitfires goalie Alex Fotinos stopped 31 shots in the loss. --- PETES 3 FRONTENACS 1 PETERBOROUGH, Ont. -- Andrew DAgostini made 46 saves and the Petes scored two goals in the final period to win Game 4 of their first-round matchup and keep their playoff hopes alive. Josh MacDonald scored at 11:20 to take a 2-1 lead over the Frontenacs and Hunter Garlent added an empty netter with 18 seconds to play. Steven Lorentz scored in the second period. Darcy Greenaway replied for Kingston, who leads the best-of-seven series 3-1. Frontenacs goalie Matt Mahalak stopped 37 shots. --- ICEDOGS 5 BATTALION 3 ST. CATHARINES, Ont. -- Erric Ming scored twice and Brent Moran made 36 saves as the IceDogs edged the Battalion to move within one game of the series victory.dddddddddddd Carter Verhaeghe had a goal and an assist for the IceDogs, who lead the series 3-1. Jordan Maletta added a short-handed goal, and Mitchell Fitzmorris also scored. Connor Jarvis scored a goal and assisted on another and Kyle Wood and Nick Paul also scored for the Battalion. North Bays Jake Smith stopped 21 shots in the losing effort. --- OTTERS 3 SPIRIT 2 (OT) SAGINAW, Mich. -- Michael Curtis scored 2:57 into overtime to lift the Otters over the Spirit in Game 4 of their first-round matchup. Brendan Gaunce tied the game with his fourth goal of the post-season at 10:56 of the second period, and Connor McDavid also scored for the Otters, who lead the best-of-seven set 3-1. Dane Fox had two assists. Justin Kea had a goal and an assist and Dylan Sadowy also scored for Saginaw. Eries Devin Williams stopped 22 shots for the win. Spirit goalie Jake Paterson made 36 saves. --- GENERALS 4 STEELHEADS 3 (OT) MISSISSAUGA, Ont. -- Hunter Smith scored a power-play goal 1:37 into overtime as the Generals knocked the Steelheads out of the playoffs in four straight games. Josh Sterk had a goal and two assists, Michael Dal Colle had a goal and one assist, and Scott Laughton also scored for Oshawa, which outshot Mississauga 41-29. Sam Babintsev and Bryson Cianfrone each had a goal and an assist apiece for the Steelheads, and Josh Burnside also scored. Generals goaltender Daniel Altshuller turned aside 26 shots for the victory. Mississaugas Spencer Martin shouldered the loss with 37 saves. ' ' '