Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

Canadiens stick their necks out, earn overtime win over Rangers

05/22/2014 at 11:39pm EDT

What an utterly bizarre game. After the first-period shenanigans subsided, save some dramatic individual rushes, the Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers basically settled into a classic game of playoff chess-on-ice (not that Michel Therrien or Alain Vigneault have ever utilized trapping hockey, of course), and the third, fourth and fifth goals scored in the Montreal Canadiens' 3-2 OT victory all deflected into the net via players' body parts, including Alex Galchenyuk's winner, which went into the net because Henrik Lundqvist directed the rebound of Tomas Plekanec's shot into Galchenyuk's neck.

NHL.com's Dan Rosen summarizes the late-3rd-period and OT action, as well as the superb performance put in by Dustin Tokarski (though his board-stiff posture and hard-angle positioning are strikingly different from Carey Price's athletic, fluid style)...

Alex Galchenyuk scored off a rebound 1:12 into overtime to give the Canadiens a 3-2 victory against the New York Rangers in Game 3 on Thursday at Madison Square Garden.

The Rangers lead the best-of-7 series 2-1. Game 4 is Sunday at Madison Square Garden (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, RDS).

Galchenyuk scored after Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist made a save on Tomas Plekanec's shot from the left circle. The rebound came out to the right and Galchenyuk was there to score his first goal of the Stanley Cup Playoffs in his second game.

Dustin Tokarski gave the Canadiens the type of goaltending they typically get from Carey Price, who is out with a knee injury. Tokarski made 35 saves, including 26 through two periods and 34 in regulation. The 24-year-old looked calm and composed in his second playoff start.

The Rangers forced overtime when Chris Kreider scored his third goal of the postseason with 29 seconds remaining in the third period and Lundqvist pulled for an extra skater. Kreider, who was in front of the net, deflected Dan Girardi's shot from the lower part of the right circle. The puck hit Montreal defenseman Alexei Emelin's right skate and redirected past Tokarski, who 26 seconds earlier robbed Martin St. Louis with a glove save from the right side.

Here's Galchenyuk's gamer:

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Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

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