Rangers romp over Price-less Canadiens

Montreal's star goalie yanked in embarrassing 7-2 loss to New York

The Canadiens might have lost more than just the opening game of the Eastern Conference finals to the New York Rangers. Montreal goalie Carey Price was pulled from Saturday's 7-2 blowout after two periods - perhaps in part because of an injury.

With New York leading by two goals, Price was on the receiving end of a big collision early in the second period when Rangers forward Chris Kreider drove to the net on a breakaway but then lost his balance as he shot the puck. He stumbled and slid skate-first into Price.

Price stayed down on the ice for several seconds, clutching his right leg, and was visibly shaken when he finally got up.

He spoke to a member of the team's medical staff but remained in the game. He allowed two more goals as the Rangers grabbed a 4-1 lead before the second intermission.

"There was no reason to put Carey back in for the third period," Canadiens coach Michel Therrien said.

"It was just to protect him. You never want to see your goaltender spread out on the ice. But the fact he didn't play in the third is unrelated."

Therrien and several Canadiens players were convinced Kreider's hit on Price was accidental. There was no penalty called on the play.

"It wasn't really sitting for me, so I had my head down trying to settle the puck," said Kreider, who scored the winning goal late in the second period.

"I put it wide and somehow lost my footing. I thought maybe someone pressured me from behind. I went in skates-first, and I just had too much momentum and couldn't really avoid him. It didn't feel too good for me, either."

Despite brushing off any injury concerns, Therrien refused to say whether Price would get the start in Game 2 on Monday.

Price gave up four goals on 20 shots in two periods, including two in less than a minute to end the second, lowering his postseason save percentage from .926 to .919.

However, the discussion was more about Price's collision than the number of pucks that got past him.

"You don't want to see that," said Rene Bourque, who brought the Canadiens within 2-1 in the second period. "Intentional? I don't think so. He's our best player. It was scary to see. Hopefully he's all right."

The Canadiens' frustration showed at the start of the third. Montreal took four minor penalties in the first three minutes, and the Rangers welcomed backup Peter Budaj into the game with three powerplay goals on their first four shots.

Before this game, the Rangers had scored eight goals in their past 10 games in Montreal, dating to October 2009.

This season, Montreal and New York combined for four goals in three regular-season matchups.

Chris Kreider of the New York Rangers beats Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price during the second period of Game 1 of the NHL's Eastern Conference final in Montreal on Saturday. The Rangers rolled to a 7-2 victory. Ryan Remiorz / AP Photo / The Canadian Press

(China Daily 05/19/2014 page23)