After a 3-1 victory in Game 2 over the Montreal Canadiens, the New York Rangers are halfway to their first Stanley Cup finals appearance since Mark Messier and company beat the Vancouver Canucks 20 years ago. Without Carey Price, who we expected to give Henrik Lundqvist a tough challenge in our series preview article, can Montreal avoid going down 0-3 in the series?
Get into this premier NHL hockey action by creating a betting account now and read on for everything you need to know about Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
[sc:NHLArticles ]Montreal Canadiens vs. New York Rangers Eastern Conference Finals, Game 3 Preview
Series Scores & Schedule
Game 1 – May 17, New York 7 at Montreal 2
Game 2 – May 19, New York 3 at Montreal 1
Game 3 – May 22, 8:00 PM ET, Montreal (+155) at New York (-175); total: 5.0 – view all NHL lines
Game 4 – May 25, 8:00 PM ET, Montreal at New York
Game 5 (if necessary) – May 27, 8:00 PM ET, New York at Montreal
Game 6 (if necessary) – May 29, 8:00 PM ET, Montreal at New York
Game 7 (if necessary) – May 31, 8:00 PM ET, New York at Montreal
Betting on the Montreal Canadiens
Without Carey Price in net, replacement goalie Dustin Tokarski and the Habs’ offense will have to play near-perfect hockey in Game 3 at Madison Square Garden to change the complexion of the series.
[sc:NHL240 ]Tokarski was rattled early in Game 2, when the New York Rangers turned up the heat in the opening period by scoring twice. With a young, inexperienced goalie in their net, the Habs are hoping they will find their missing offense on the road, where they’ve scored 21 of their 39 goals in these playoffs.
Still, Montreal is 4-2 in their last six games outside Quebec. That includes their gutsy 3-1 Game 7 victory at TD Garden against the Boston Bruins in the second round. Moreover, Montreal has won its last two trips to MSG.
Betting on the New York Rangers
Henrik Lundqvist means business. After taking apart the Pittsburgh Penguins’ attack in the second round, Lundqvist is now stamping his name all over the Canadiens, who have been baffled by the Swedish netminder. In Game 2, Lundqvist played like a man possessed, stopping all but one of the Canadiens’ 41 shots.
King Henrik leads the playoffs in saves with 422, to go along with a .934 SV% and a 1.93 GAA. With Lundqvist at the top of his game, the Rangers have now won five straight games, all of which saw their opponents score no more than two goals.
Another area where the Rangers have been effective in this series is on the penalty kill. The Rangers have stuffed all of Montreal’s seven attempts with the man advantage, upping their postseason penalty kill percentage to 85.4%.
New York is 4-0 in their last four games after allowing two goals or less in its last game.
Writer’s Prediction
Henrik Lundqvist is in the zone right now. The Rangers will continue to frustrate the Canadiens’ offense in Game 3, while at the same time taking advantage of Montreal’s questionable goaltending. Take the Rangers to win cover -1.5 and the total to hit under 5.
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