New York Rangers vs. Montreal Canadiens Predictions, Picks and Preview – 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs – Eastern Conference First Round Game Five – April 20, 2017
Tuesday’s series-tying 2-1 win was huge. It snapped their ugly six-game playoff losing streak at home and the two goals they scored was the most in their last five postseason games at Madison Square Garden.
Such performance and victory are just in time, but it’s still hard to predict what Rangers team will now show up for the always-crucial Game 5. They’ve simply been hot-and-cold for the most part.
Nevertheless, there’s a lot of positivity in the Blueshirts’ locker room again. They came out with a lot of aggression in Game 4, as evidenced in the disparity in hits (43 to 25) and takeaways (13 to 4), which are key components in keeping your opponents from building rhythm.
The good team defense resulted in Henrik Lundqvist only getting tasked to face 24 shots for the whole game. He saved all but one, and if they can limit the Canadiens to such an amount of attempts moving forward, they’ll always have a great chance to collect a W.
Although they failed big time in putting the Rangers on the ropes, the Canadiens should have minimal concern in them. They still have better control – thanks to the home court advantage – and plenty of their guys are contributing pretty well.
Alexander Radulov continued tallying numbers in his team-leading point total – he now has six points, courtesy of two goals and four assists. Shea Webber, meanwhile, either has an assist or goal in each of the series’ last three games. Both are quite welcomed, of course, especially since their leading scorer, Max Pacioretty, is consistently getting contained (0-for-19, one assist).
As for Carey Price, who’s been mostly terrific in the series, he saved 30 of the Rangers’ 32 shots, which is still good. He’s 114-for-121 (.942 save percentage) in the matchups’ four games.
Writer’s Prediction
The Habs (-150) regain a series lead with a 4-1 win.
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