Dominic Moore scored in the second period as the New York Rangers beat the Montreal Canadiens 1-0 on Thursday night to advance to the Stanley Cup finals for the first time since 1994.
Henrik Lundqvist bounced back from his worst performance in the NHL playoffs as the Rangers shook off a 7-4 road loss on Tuesday night to take out the Canadiens at home.
Lundqvist needed to make only 18 saves in his team-record equalling ninth postseason shutout. He was pulled after allowing four goals in less than two periods on Tuesday.
The Stanley Cup finals will begin Wednesday at either Chicago or Los Angeles, which leads the Western finals 3-2.
Montreal's Dustin Tokarski, who replaced injured No. 1 goalie Carey Price after Game 1, was solid in making 31 saves. Montreal made one final push after Tokarski was pulled for an extra skater with 1:53 left, but Lundqvist held off the Canadiens.
The Rangers broke the deadlock late in the second period after some good grinding work in the left corner by rugged forward Derek Dorsett.
The puck came free to defenceman Ryan McDonagh, who sent it behind the net to Brian Boyle in the right corner. Boyle spotted Moore alone in the crease and fed a crisp pass for a hard shot that got through Tokarski with 1:53 left.
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