Lucky bounces. There were a number of them to go around between the Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers on Thursday.
For the Habs, the final fortunate bounce in a critical Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final went their way - the puck hit off of the body of Montreal forward Alex Galchenyuk, behind a helpless Henrik Lundqvist and into the net. Game over. Montreal wins 3-2 in overtime. The Canadiens now trail the best-of-seven series 2-1.
“To be honest I have no idea what happened. It bounced off my stick or hit me (and) it went in,” said Galchenyuk, as per Dave Stubbs of the Montreal Gazette.
Alex Galchenyuk (20y,99d) is youngest @CanadiensMTL player to score an OT goal in playoffs; previously Gus Rivers (20y,129d). (@EliasSports)
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) May 23, 2014
In a game that featured an abundance of odd and controversial moments, the final four minutes of regulation and the short 1:12 of overtime was rife with them.
Daniel Briere, the clutch playoff performer that he is, gave Montreal a 2-1 lead with 3:02 remaining in regulation. He was behind the goal line when he directed the puck in front of the New York net. The puck bounced off the leg of a Rangers defender and into the net.
The Rangers sent the game into overtime on a goal credited to Chris Kreider with 29 seconds remaining. A pass out front of the Montreal net went off Canadiens defenseman Alexei Emelin.