Rangers vs. Canadiens Game 6 recap: Moore, Lundqvist lead Rangers into the Stanley Cup
Dominic Moore scored the game's lone goal as the Rangers eliminated the Canadiens, and advanced to the Stanley Cup round.
It's been the Rangers grinders who have come up big as New York has won games to advance along in the playoffs.
Against the Flyers, it was Daniel Carcillo, and against the Penguins, Brian Boyle.
So on Thursday night, it was simply Dominic Moore's turn.
The Rangers depth came up big again as Moore scored the only goal of the night, eliminating Montreal as the Rangers won Game 6 1-0 to advance to the Stanley Cup round.
In one of the Rangers more dominant performances of the series, New York outshot Montreal 32-18, as Henrik Lundqvist had one of his lighter workloads. Montreal struggled to get to the danger areas and generate true quality chances.
When Lundqvist was called on, he came up rather large. The game remained scoreless for almost an entire two periods, as Dustin Tokarski kept the Blueshirts off the board with another steady performance.
Montreal's one true close call in the Rangers' crease came off a 2-on-1 that Thomas Vanek almost capitalized on. His cross-ice passed ticked off a sliding Dan Girardi, and forced a miraculous, acrobatic save out of Lundqvist.
The decisive goal came at the end of the second period. The line of Boyle, Moore, and Derek Dorsett worked the puck down low in the Canadiens zone. Ryan McDonagh pinched in to keep the cycle going, before Boyle fed more out in front, who slipped it under the arm of Tokarski for a 1-0 lead with only 1:53 remaining in the second.
The Rangers didn't go into a shell in the third, maintaining good puck possession, and still generating good offensive chances, outshooting Montreal 13-5 over the game's final 20 minutes.
From the opening faceoff to the final buzzer, it was truly one of the Rangers more dominating performances of the series. Tokarski was strong again, and the Rangers hit several posts to boot. And while it seem like Tokarski may steal a Game 6 on the road, the Rangers depth came through in the clutch again, boosting them into the Stanley Cup round.
The Rangers await the winner of the Kings-Blackhawks series, which Los Angeles currently leads 3-2. The Stanley Cup will start June 3, with the Rangers on the road.
