Rangers Vs. Canadiens Game 4 Preview: Need To Take The Split
The New York Rangers will take on the Montreal Canadiens in game four of the Eastern Conference Finals tonight at Madison Square Garden. Puck drop is scheduled for 8:00 PM.
After dropping game three of the Eastern Conference Finals in heartbreaking fashion, the New York Rangers will look to get back on track tonight at Madison Square Garden. Aside from the two opening goals for either team, game three was all about who got the extra bounce. All three of the final goals were either an own goal, or the puck took a strange bounce off of another player in front. At the end of the day though, a loss is a loss, and for the Rangers, that was a loss that they should flush out of their minds entirely.
Momentum may exist from period to period, but it does not exist from game to game. The Rangers have a brand new opportunity tonight to take a stranglehold on this series, and go up by the count of 3-1. However, the Rangers will be at a slight disadvantage tonight in light of some recent injuries.
Derek Stepan wasn't officially ruled out for tonight's game, but given that he was still in the hospital last night, there is a pretty slim chance that he plays. As a result, Alain Vigneault will be forced to dip into his AHL callup list in order to find a replacement. Along with the bad, however, comes the good, which is that Derick Brassard will finally make his return to the lineup tonight after an injury sustained in game one. Hopefully tonight will have a better outcome than game four.
All of the information for tonight's game can be found in the table below.
| EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS - GAME 4 | ||
|---|---|---|
 | at |  |
46-28-8 (100 PTS) 3rd in Atlantic | 45-31-6 (96 PTS) | |
|
NYR LEAD SERIES 2-1 | ||
| GAME & TELEVISION INFORMATION | ||
|---|---|---|
| Sunday, May 25th, 2014 | ||
| Madison Square Garden - New York, NY - 8:00 PM | ||
| Television: NBCSN, CBC, RDS | Radio: ESPN NY 98.7 | ||
| Opponent's Blog: Eyes On The Prize |
| STARTING GOALTENDERS |
|---|
| Team | Goalies | GP | MIN | W | L | GA | GAA | SA | SV | SV% | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
MTL | 2 | 117 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 2.56 | 67 | 62 | .925 | 0 | |
NYR | 17 | 995 | 10 | 7 | 33 | 1.99 | 477 | 444 | .931 | 0 |
| PROJECTED LINEUPS | ||
|---|---|---|
| Pacioretty - Desharnais - Gallagher | 1st Line | Kreider - Moore - Nash |
| Galchenyuk - Plekanec - Gionta | 2nd Line | Hagelin - Richards - St. Louis |
| Bourque - Eller - Weise | 3rd Line | Pouliot - Brassard - Zuccarello |
| Prust - Briere - Vanek | 4th Line | Miller - Boyle - Dorsett |
| Gorges - Subban | 1st D Pair | McDonagh - Girardi |
| Markov - Emelin | 2nd D Pair | Stralman - Staal |
| Beaulieu - Weaver | 3rd D Pair | J. Moore - Klein |
