The NHL playoffs are back with the NY Rangers and Montreal Canadiens going at it and the matchup for Game 4 is a huge matchup for both teams and starts at 8 pm ET on the NBC Sports Network and streaming from the live extra website from Madison Square Garden in New York and comes with the Blueshirts up 2-1 in the series and this could be the deciding game in the series.
The Rangers have a chance to take a commanding lead in the series and coach Alain Vigneault went back at the Canadiens after they said some things in the media and now game 4 is coming with some intensity on both sides and should be a physical affair. Kreider said that the team is not feeling pressure and that they need to continue playing with confidence and he has been one of the major playmakers for the Rangers all postseason. Kreider helped snap the terrible power play streak the Rangers had and was the spark when they were down 3-1 to the Penguins and they eventually won that series by winning three straight games and the loss in Game 3 was the first defeat for the team since then.
The Rangers are getting Derek Brassard back at the right time and they need him with Stepan and Carcillo out and he is another part of that Marian Gaborik trade that has been working out for the Rangers, as Derek Dorsett and John Moore have been very productive for the team during the playoffs. Gaborik has been huge for the Kings in this playoffs and that is a potential Stanley Cup matchup and now Carcillo awaits an appeal about the suspension and he has to decide what will happen next, because the official definitely deserves some blame for what happened in the game.
Lars Eller and Martin St. Louis are the leading goal scorers for each team, while Max Pacioretty and Rick Nash lead the Canadiens and Rangers respectively in shots on goal. Carl Hagelin has played a very good series for the Rangers, while Derek Stepan is leading in assists and his loss will be big for the team and PK Subban comes in leading the Canadiens in points and he has been quieted by the Rangers and looked terrible on one of the goal scoring plays in the last game.
Lundqvist has been fantastic throughout the playoffs for New York and while he allowed the winning goal and got the loss in Game 3, those goals really were not on him apart from the first one, as one went in off of a skate and another off of a another player's chest. Lundqvist is looking to rebound with another great performance and the Rangers need it, as they had a ton of momentum coming back home after winning the first two games on the rod and if they go back to Montreal with the series tied at 2-2 that could be very tough to come back from. The Rangers need players like Rick Nash, Brad Richards and St. Louis to step up and this game could be the most important one of the series for both New York and Montreal.
