|
 Galchenyuk ended the pulsating game when he cleaned up after a
strong shot from Tomas Plekanec bounced off New York goalie Henrik
Lundqvist and silenced the Madison Square Garden crowd.
The Rangers, who were looking to take a 3-0 stranglehold on the
best-of-seven series, sent the game into overtime when Chris Kreider
leveled the score at 2-2 with a shot off the skate of Montreal
defenseman Alexei Emelin with 29 seconds left that produced roars
that rocked the Garden.
Kreider's goal came after Daniel Briere had given Montreal the lead
with a shot that caromed in off Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh
with three minutes remaining in regulation.
Montreal's rookie goalie Dustin Tokarski, starting in place of
injured regular Carey Price, stopped 35 of 37 shots to outduel
Lundqvist who allowed three of 28 shots to find the net.
"Dustin Tokarski was phenomenal tonight," said Canadiens coach
Michel Therrien. "Without Tokarskis performance, probably the result
would have been different."
Game Four of the series will return to Madison Square Garden on
Sunday.
HAGELIN BREAKTHROUGH
The Rangers dominated the opening period, taking 14 shots to four by
the Canadiens, with 24-year-old Tokarski hanging tough under the
pressure to keep the game scoreless until left winger Carl Hagelin
broke through for New York.
Hagelin smothered a shot by Montreal's P.K. Subban and raced up the
left side on a breakaway before sliding it across ice to Martin St.
Louis.
Tokarski tipped the shot by St. Louis but Hagelin swooped in and
swiped it out of the air and into the net for a 1-0 lead with 5:51
left in the period for his fifth goal of the playoffs.
Montreal tied it 3:20 into the second period when Andrei Markov
fired a shot through Lundqvist after receiving a pinpoint pass from
Max Pacioretty.
Tokarski, appearing in his second playoff game after playing in 10
regular season games, said his team mates helped him through. "I was
just going out there to play my game," said Tokarski. "The other
guys blocked a lot of shots and battled really hard to the end."
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LUCKY BOUNCES
Both sides grumbled about the lucky bounces their opponents got.
"They got a bounce, that's the way it goes sometimes," said New
York's St. Louis. "You've got to bury some of your chances and we
failed to do so but we generated a lot, that's some of the good
things we did tonight. We've just got to find a way to put the puck
in the net."
Therrien said it was critical that Montreal kept the Rangers from
surging to a big lead in the opening period. "We weathered the storm
and I felt our team played with more confidence as the game went
on," he said.
"They got a break at the end of the game (on Kreider's goal).
Without Tokarski's performance, probably the result would have been
different."
Rangers coach Alain Vigneault also paid Tokarski praise.
"We played a good game, had some really good looks. Give credit to
their goaltender. He played well," Vigneault said. "This series is
intense. We battled really hard tonight, came out ready to play. It
was a hard-fought game. Next one is going to be the same."
(Editing by Greg Stutchbury)
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