Gildenbeschreibung » Francois Tremblay made 37 saves for the Ti

NEW YORK -- On a night where something special was needed, the New York Rangers produced and the Montreal Canadiens didnt. As a consequence, the Rangers are headed to their first Stanley Cup final in 20 years. And the Canadiens are going home, experiencing a dark cocktail of emotions after falling two wins short. Dominic Moore scored late in the second period and Henrik Lundqvist made 18 saves as the Rangers dispatched Montreal 1-0 on Thursday to win the Eastern Conference final four games to two. "We played, in my book, probably our best game of the playoffs," said Rangers coach Alain Vigneault. The Canadiens didnt. New York outshot Montreal 32-18, with the Habs putting just five shots on goal in the third period of a game that was not as close as the score sounds. It was a night and day compared to the Canadiens 7-4 win Tuesday at the Bell Centre. "Its tough because were so close. And were right there," said Montreal defenceman Josh Gorges. "Im a little bit lost for words because Im still trying to process this. Im still stunned. Its tough." Montreal sniper Max Pacioretty was brutally frank in the wake of the loss. "A night like tonight, our backs were against the wall," he said. "Weve been in that position before but there in the third period it almost seemed like -- myself especially -- guys were panicking. We got away from our game." New York really had a go at Montreal in the third, buzzing young goalie Dustin Tokarskis net. The Canadiens did not get a shot on net for the first nine minutes and were back on their heels the entire period. "The third period, I think we played our best period of the playoffs," said Lundqvist. "When it mattered the most, guys really stepped up." While the Canadiens missed passes and made bad decisions, the workmanlike Rangers did the little things right. Their finishing could have been better but didnt need to be given Montreals sputtering offence. "We gave them one chance in the first, four in the second, and nothing in the third," said Vigneault. "Shouldnt have been a 1-0 game, but you have to give their goaltender a lot of credit. He played outstanding." So was Lundqvist, who was pulled in the second period of Game 5 after giving up four goals on 19 shots. He returned to world-class form when he needed to be. The breakthrough came after the Rangers fourth line bottled the Habs up in their own end near the end of the second period. Boyle, left all alone behind the goal, sent a pass through defenceman Francis Bouillon and Moore snapped a shot past Tokarski on the stick side at 18:07 for his third of the playoffs. Defenceman Ryan McDonagh also drew an assist, his 10th of the playoffs. The Rangers last appearance in the final was 1994 when they defeated the Vancouver Canucks in seven games for their first title in 54 years. The Canadiens have not appeared in the final since 1993 when the dispatched the Los Angeles Kings in five games. New York will face either defending champion Chicago or the Kings, both formidable foes, as the final kicks off Wednesday in the West. Vigneault showed faith in his fourth line, starting the game with Moore, Brian Boyle and Derek Dorsett. They repaid him with the key goal on a night that saw the Rangers play with more urgency than the Canadiens before an amped crowd at Madison Square Garden. Tokarski was busier than Lundqvist but the Swede was spectacular in the second period when he made an amazing circus-like save with his arm and then blocker off Thomas Vanek. The save had a degree of difficulty that would have done an Olympic diver proud as the Rangers goalie, losing his stick in the process, corkscrewed his body to stop the close-range shot that deflected off a diving defenceman. Asked what he thought of the play, Vigneault replied: "Same thing you did. Wow." The Rangers scored soon after. Streamers flew through the air as the final whistle blew. The normally calm Lundqvist threw his arms in the air and was mobbed by his teammates. The crowd chanted "We want the Cup." With Brad Richards and Martin St. Louis, who won the Cup together a decade ago with Tampa, leading the decision-making process, the Rangers elected not to touch the Prince of Wales Trophy that goes to the Eastern Conference champion. Its been quite a journey for the Rangers who started the season 3-6 on the road as Madison Square Garden underwent massive renovations. Asked what he would have said if someone had told him in October that his team would go to the Cup final, Vigneault laughed. "In October?" he asked. "Probably I would have said what are you smoking?" Vigneault, in his first year as New Yorks coach, offered a calmer, different message than the fiery John Tortorella. It helped keep the train on track. Montreal also came together under fire. While there may be cause for celebration down the line, the season ends with regrets and questions. "We made some big progress this year," said coach Michel Therrien. "Im proud of this hockey team. We battled hard through the regular season and we battled hard in the playoffs." Pacioretty pointed to the emotional seven-game win over Boston in the series before. "You have success against a team like that, maybe you feel too good about yourself," he said. ""Its hard to pinpoint exactly what went wrong. But that could be one of them. Because we feel like we could have matched up pretty good against the Rangers but obviously didnt put up the effort we needed." Losing the first two games at home proved to be an obstacle Montreal couldnt overcome. "We played our hearts out for two series and then have a little bit of a letdown this series and its too late," Pacioretty lamented. Game 7 would have been Saturday night at the Bell Centre. For Montreal, it was a disappointing end to a surprising playoff run that won fans across the country as Canadas lone team in the post-season came within two wins of making the Stanley Cup final. "Lets push for a game 7!" Prime Minister Stephen Harper tweeted before the game. But the Canadiens, who lost star goalie Carey Price in Game 1, could not rise to the occasion. Therrien said after the game they expected Price would have been ready for Game 1 of the final. But the Habs had only praise for the 24-year-old goalie they call Ticker. "Tokarski played unbelievable, especially tonight," said Pacioretty. "That game could easily have been four or 5-0. They outplayed us tonight and he kept us in the game -- 1-0 is a very misleading score for that game." Tokarski said he was proud of his performance, adding he thought everyone on the team felt the same about their play. "But its still bitter and it sucks right now," he said. Tokarski went to the bench with 1:53 remaining and Lundqvist made a big save with his torso. Montreal used its timeout as Led Zeppelin and then Frank Sinatra rang around the arena. The win was the 42nd of Lundqvists playoff career, moving the 32-year-old past Mike Richter for the franchise lead. Richter backstopped the Blueshirts to the 94 Cup. It was also his ninth playoff shutout, tying him with Richter for the team lead. Lundqvist has a history of bouncing back from off nights. He was 5-2 with a .930 save percentage in games after a Rangers loss this post-season. "Its been tough .. I kept telling myself all day believe in what youre doing," said Lindqvist, looking like he had just walked off the set of "The Great Gatsby" in a charcoal pinstripe suit and plaid tie. Both teams had to adjust their lineups for Game 6. The Rangers were without defenceman John Moore, starting a two-game suspension for a hit on Dale Weise. Ex-Hab Raphael Diaz started in his place in the third defensive pairing. Brandon Prust returned from suspension for Montreal but Weise and defenceman Alexei Emelin were both out. Therrien said Weise, flattened by Moore last time out, was not suffering from a head injury but declined to elaborate. Emelin sat out Game 5 with an unannounced injury. The Rangers came out like men on a mission, outshooting the Habs 4-0 before Montreal captain Brian Gionta was called for goalie interference at 4:15. The Habs were incensed at the call, believing that Gionta was high-sticked on the play. At one point early on two Canadiens lost their sticks at the same time in their own zone. It took Montreal almost eight minutes to get its first shot on goal, a weak effort from Max Pacioretty. While Lundqvist lazed, Tokarski was stopping one shot after another -- some that he knew very little about. His mask took the brunt of one shot. The Canadiens didnt get their second shot until some 15 minutes into the period. But it was dangerous, forcing a good Lundqvist blocker save off Alex Galchenyuk as Montreal cooped the Rangers up in their own end. Montreal was outshot 11-5 in the first period and were lucky not to trail after 20 minutes. Each team had eight shots in the second period. A slashing penalty to Prust with 5:42 remaining in the game did not help the Montreal cause. But it delighted the crowd. The rest before the Cup final will be welcomed by the Rangers. They went seven games in each of the previous two rounds, wasting a 3-2 lead against Philadelphia and rallying from 3-1 down to dispatch the Penguins. Discount Nike Shox . Louis Cardinals continued their offensive tear with a 9-5 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the opener of a four-game series. Clearance Nike Shox . Manager Ryan Nelsen has confirmed Brazilian No. 1 Julio Cesar will be rested for Wednesdays first leg of the semifinal. That opens the door for Bendik, who started 33 games for Toronto last season. http://www.cheapnikeshoxfreeshipping.com/ .Y. - The New York Yankees made it official Saturday, announcing the completion of a seven-year deal with free-agent outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury and a one-year contract for returning starter Hiroki Kuroda. Cheap Nike Shoes Free Shipping . As their best player continued to orchestrate his dramatic exit from the club, the Whitecaps added size and creativity at Thursdays Major League Soccer SuperDraft. Nike Shox Outlet Clearance . Rosbergs time of 1 minute, 33.185 seconds at the Bahrain International Circuit was a quarter of a second faster than Hamilton, who had to abandon his final flying lap after running wide at the first corner.SHERBROOKE, Que. - Jean-Sebastien Dea scored three times, including the winner, as the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies edged the host Sherbrooke Phoenix 4-3 in overtime on Friday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. Dea forced overtime with a power-play goal in the third period and then earned the Huskies (26-13-5) the victory 1:28 into extra time. Antoine Waked also scored for Rouyn-Noranda while Marcus Power had three assists. Daniel Audette had a goal and two assists for the Phoenix (14-26-6) while Mitchell Lundholm and Jeremy Roy had the others. Alexandre Belanger made 28 saves for the Huskies as Sherbrookes Maxime Lagace stopped 42-of-46 shots in a losing cause. --- VOLTIGEURS 2 TITAN 0 BATHURST, N.B. -- Louis-Philip Guindon stopped 33 shots as Drummondville blanked the Titan. Matthew Boudens and Joey Ratelle scored for the Voltigeurs (28-15-2), who went 0-for-3 on the power play, while Georgs Golovkovs assisted on both. Patrick Walsh led Acadie-Bathurst (17-24-4) with seven shots on net as his club failed to score on eight chances with the man advantage. Jacob Brennan made 22 saves for the Titan. --- SCREAMING EAGLES 8 WILDCATS 3 SYDNEY, N.S. -- Kyle Farrell scored three goals and added two assists and Justin Hache had four assists as Cape Breton crushed Moncton. Clark Bishop scored once and set up two more for the Screaming Eagles (23-19-3) while Francis Brunelle, Cameron Darcy, Jeremy Beaudry and Julien Pelletier produced a goal each. Christophe Lalonde, William Bower and Ivan Barbashev supplied the offence for the Wildcats (23-22-2). Alex Bureau made 21 saves for Cape Breton while Monctons Jason Rioux gave up all eight goals on 50 shots against. --- SEA DOGS 3 ISLANDERS 2 SAINT JOHN, N.B. -- David Weckworths goal at 18:30 of the third period stood up as the winner as the Sea Dogs slipped past Charlottetown. Samuel Dove-McFalls and Olivier Leblanc also scored for Saint John (13-27-4) and Noah Zilbert tacked on two assists. Kameron Kielly and Nathan Yetman responded for the Islanders (17-24-5). Sebastien Auger stopped 36 shots for the Sea Dogs as Charlottetowns Eric Brassard made 28 saves in a losing cause. --- SAGUENEENSS 3 Cataractes 2 (OT) CHICOUTIMI, Que.dddddddddddd. -- Frederic Allard scored 1:52 into overtime to lift the Sagueneens over Shawinigan. Philippe Archambault and Laurent Dauphin registered a goal each for Chicoutimi (23-22-1) while Domenic Graham turned away 23 shots for the victory. The Cataractes (11-27-7) got both goals from Giovanni Fiore. Marvin Cupper kicked out 39-of-42 shots for Shawinigan. --- TIGRES 6 FOREURS 5 (SO) VICTORIAVILLE, Que. -- Jean-Francois Plante scored twice in regulation and then in the shootout as the Tigres came from behind to beat Val-dOr. Jonathan Diaby, Carl Marois and Cameron Yarwood also scored for Victoriaville (20-19-6), which trailed 5-3 heading into the third period. Louick Marcotte scored a pair of goals for the Foreurs (27-16-2), Guillaume Gelinas had a goal and three assists, while Thomas Gobeil and Maxime Presseault tacked on a goal apiece. Francois Tremblay made 37 saves for the Tigres as Antoine Bibeau turned away 45-of-50 shots for Val-dOr. --- DRAKKAR 6 OLYMPIQUES 4 BAIE-COMEAU, Que. -- Alexis Vanier scored twice as the Drakkar jumped out to a six-goal lead before Gatineau found its offence. Jeremy Gregoire, Denis Gorbunov, Dominic Poulin and Maxime St-Cyr also scored for Baie-Comeau (29-12-4), which extended its win streak to four games, while Felix Girard added two assists. Adam Stevens, Vaclav Karabacek, Jonathan Bourcier and Martin Reway all scored in the third period for the Olympiques (28-16-1), who trailed 6-0 after 40 minutes of action. Philippe Cadorette made 31 saves for the Drakkar as Gatineaus Anthony Brodeur kicked out 23-of-29 shots in defeat. -- OCEANIC 6 ARMADA 3 RIMOUSKI, Que. -- Anthony DeLuca and Alexis Loiseau each scored twice as the Oceanic doubled up Blainville-Boisbriand. Sebastien Sylvestre scored once and set up two more for Rimouski (27-12-7), Peter Trainor scored once and Frederik Gauthier chipped in with three assists. Marc-Olivier Roy, Christopher Clapperton and Nikita Jevpalovs scored for the Armada (28-10-7). Philippe Desrosiers made 22 saves for the Oceanic while Blainville-Boisbriands Etienne Marcoux stopped 27-of-32 shots in a defeat. ' ' '