NEW YORK -- Madison Square Garden underwent a recent $1 billion transformation, and yet it will have another completely different feeling once the New York Rangers hit the ice in the Eastern Conference finals. Buffalo Sabres Shirts . Gone will be the fear of impending doom that enveloped the club during its second-round comeback against Pittsburgh. Missing will be the nerves that any goal or loss could mean the end of the season. Suddenly, the Rangers are the front-runners against the Montreal Canadiens, and their fans now have the chance to celebrate the ride with them. "Having fan support is obviously huge," Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said. "Unconditional love, its something thats really beneficial to a team." New York is riding a five-game winning streak, but four of those victories came on the road -- two in Pittsburgh when the Rangers erased a 3-1 series deficit, and the first two in this matchup with Montreal. The Rangers will skate at the Garden on Thursday night with a series lead for the first time since Game 2 of the first round against Philadelphia 15 games ago. "Its a good feeling, but we know weve accomplished nothing yet," forward Martin St. Louis said. "Were trying to prepare for a Montreal team thats going to come out with a lot of energy. We know that. This is a big game for everybody. We know where the series is, and its a big opportunity for us." Nothing is a guarantee, but to take a 3-0 series lead would set the Rangers up for their first trip to the Stanley Cup finals since 1994. Since New York fell way behind Pittsburgh with a dispirited home loss in Game 4, the Rangers have been playing with a sense of desperation. It didnt reset once they eliminated the Penguins, and so far they have shown no signs they will let the Canadiens recover. "I feel every game is a must-win in the playoffs," St. Louis said. "You go into every game understanding what can happen with a loss and what can happen with a win. Its a lot of momentum shifting, a buildup in the playoffs, and you want to make sure you keep it as long as you can." The Canadiens mindset is to regroup and play the kind of road game the Rangers did by jumping on them. Montreal is still dealing with the loss of No. 1 goalie Carey Price, who was knocked out of the series by injury in the opener, but now is trying to rally around third-stringer Dustin Tokarski. The inexperienced goalie, who has played in only 11 career NHL games, got the surprise nod by coach Michel Therrien in Game 2 over regular backup Peter Budaj and was tabbed again Wednesday to start in Game 3. Struggled forward Thomas Vanek was dropped to the fourth line in practice on Wednesday alongside Danny Briere and Brandon Prust in another potential shake-up. "Dont read too much, OK?" Therrien said. "They might change tomorrow." Whatever the lineup looks like, the Canadiens have adopted a motto of no excuses as the series shifts to New York. "We lost the first two games. Weve got to do something different," Canadiens captain Brian Gionta said Wednesday in Montreal before the team flew south. "But at the same time, we had a pretty good game in Game 2. Weve just got to find ways to get more goals and get to them a little more offensively." They netted only two in a blowout loss in the opener, and then scored one on Monday in a 3-1 loss. The Canadiens grabbed what had been an all-important first goal, but they lost the lead just 17 seconds later and were trailing 2-1 before the first period ended. Henrik Lundqvist was the main reason the Rangers were ahead, holding off an early attack and then a third-period surge in which he stopped all 19 Canadiens shots. He made 40 saves overall. "We are down two, and we are going on the road," said forward Max Pacioretty, who scored the lone Montreal goal in Game 2. "Obviously, we would have liked to have Game 2, but we can only worry about Game 3. Weve got to be better. "We have to make life difficult for their goalie, and if we do that, I like our teams chances." Pacioretty, a Connecticut native, is also looking forward to the atmosphere at the Garden, even though he will be wearing an enemy sweater. "I love MSG," he said. "I grew up watching games there. I love going there. I havent played in the finished building yet, so this will be fun for me." One person who hopes to be back on the ice on Thursday is Rangers forward Derick Brassard, who was injured early in the opener and missed all of Game 2. He went through a full practice on Wednesday and was waiting to meet with the medical staff and Vigneault to see if he would rejoin the lineup. Fellow forward Benoit Pouliot sat out for a maintenance day. Buffalo Sabres Pro Shop . Murray beat Sam Querrey 7-6 (5), 6-7 (3), 6-1, 6-3 to clinch Britains opening-round victory against the United States on Sunday at Petco Park. "Im proud of the way Im playing just now, because I had to do a lot of work to get back to where I want to be," Murray said after celebrating with his teammates on the red clay court in a temporary stadium in left field of the downtown home of baseballs San Diego Padres. Stitched Sabres Jerseys . Lack replaced an injured Roberto Luongo late in the first period then watched defenceman Chris Tanev score the winning goal midway through the third as the Vancouver Canucks defeated the Jets 2-1 in a tight NHL game. https://www.cheapsabres.com/ . The Opening Day starter played 53 games this season hitting .192 with nine home runs and 25 RBI. Red Sox manager John Farrell has decided to start Jose Iglesias at third base as of late instead of Middlebrooks.The Winnipeg Jets look for their second straight win on a season-high six game road trip tonight in Uniondale against the New York Islanders. The (11-11-4) Jets are seventh in the Central Division with 26 points. Fifth place Dallas and sixth-seeded Nashville also have 26 points, but the Stars have three games in hand on Winnipeg while Nashville has two. Al Montoya (2-2-1, 2.49, .913) starts in goal. Jets Projected Lines: Ladd-Little-WheelerKane-Jokinen-SetoguchiHalischuk-Scheifele-FrolikTangradi-Wright-Thorburn Enstrom-ByfuglienStuart-EllerbyClitsome-Trouba Michael Frolik is on a three-game point streak (one goal and two2 assists). New York enters this game after all three on a road trip to Toronto, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. The (8-13-33) Islanders are eighth in the Metropolitan Division with 19 points. Buffalo Sabres Store. They trail seventh place Columbus by two points and are three back of Philadelphia. Kevin Poulin (3-8, 3.10, .891) will start in goal. Islanders Projected Lines: Vanek-Tavares-OkposoGrabner-Nielsen-BaileyBouchard-Regin-ClutterbuckNelson-Cizikas-Martin MacDonald-HamonicHickey-DonovanNess-Carkner Casey Cizikas is on a five-game point streak (three goals and two assists). Thomas Vanek has two goals and one assist in his last two games. The Islanders penalty kill has struggled this season and is last in the NHL at 70 per cent. Tonight is the first of two games between these teams this season. New York travels to Winnipeg Tuesday, March 4. ' ' '  |
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