karski performed admira

The Montreal Canadiens will try to get back in the Eastern Conference Final series with the New York Rangers when the two collide in Game 3 at Madison Square Garden this evening. Vincent Kompany . Listen to the game live on TSN Radio 690 at 8pm et/5pm pt and watch live coverage of the post-game news conferences on TSN.ca. The Canadiens, who are without the services of No. 1 goaltender Carey Price, will have 24-year-old Dustin Tokarski between the pipes again tonight with Peter Budaj serving as the backup. Tokarski performed admirably in his postseason debut on Monday, but it wasnt enough to prevent Montreal from falling behind two games to none. Henrik Lundqvist outdueled the Canadiens netminder, making 40 saves to anchor New York to its fifth consecutive victory. Tokarski, who had played in three games earlier in the season, allowed all three goals on 30 shots in his first taste of NHL playoff action. "We looked at his record. Tokarski is a winner and we know that from his past record. I thought he played very well tonight," said Montreal head coach Michel Therrien. "I liked our team effort, which was great tonight. We were engaged. But the reason we lost tonight was Lundqvist, he stole the game tonight. We had lots of chances to score but Lundqvist made key saves." Tokarski became the first goaltender to make his playoff debut in the Conference Final or later since the NHL expanded to a four-round postseason format in 1975. Price is out for the remainder of the Conference Final due to a lower-body injury suffered in Game 1. Forward Thomas Vanek, who has no points, one shot and a minus-3 rating, took turns skating on the fourth line during practice Wednesday. Therrien told reporters not to read into it, as it all could change again ahead of Game 3. Max Pacioretty scored for Montreal at 6:14 of the first period, but McDonagh answered with his tally just 17 seconds later. The Canadiens put a ton of pressure on New York in the opening 20 minutes, but Lundqvist stopped 13-of-14 shots in the period and Nash would score late in the stanza to give the Rangers the lead for good. "Hes the only reason we were still in the game because they had tremendous push," said New York head coach Alain Vigneault about Lundqvist. Montreal was 0-for-4 on the man advantage and has failed to score over seven chances in the first two games. The Rangers went 1-for-3 on the power play and are 4-for-10 in the series. "We had a number of opportunities to put ourselves in a good position, but they were optimistic and capitalized on their opportunities," said Habs defenseman P.K. Subban. "The difference is, we didnt. Were getting pucks to the net, but not getting the bounces right now. We have to stick with it, because sooner or later the pucks will go in for us." New York played without forward Derick Brassard, who suffered an injury early in Game 1 and was replaced in the lineup by Daniel Carcillo on Monday. He skated Wednesday and Vigneault  said hes is day-to-day. "It was good to get back out there with my teammates," Brassard said Wednesday. "I havent talked to the medical staff, well see whats going to happen." Vigneault also said winger Benoit Pouliot "is good" for tonight after taking a maintenance day on Wednesday. New York is 10-2 all-time when winning the first two games of a seven-game playoff series, including a 4-1 mark when claiming the first two tests on the road. New York is 5-0 since falling behind 3-1 in its semifinal set against Pittsburgh. Mondays win improved the Rangers to 6-3 on the road in these playoffs, marking the first time the Blueshirts have won six away games in one postseason since they last won the Stanley Cup in 1994. The Rangers, however, are just 4-3 on home ice in the playoffs. The Habs are 4-2 as the guest. Tonights tilt is the first of two straight at the Garden, as the clubs are set to meet Sunday in Manhattan for Game 4. Ryan McDonagh posted a goal and an assist in Mondays win, while Martin St. Louis and Rick Nash also scored for the Rangers. Derek Stepan added two assists in the victory. McDonagh has six points (2G, 4A) in the first two games of this series. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, McDonagh is the first Rangers defenseman to record six points in a two-game span in the postseason since Brian Leetch in 1995. Leetch registered three points in consecutive games in New Yorks opening round series against the Quebec Nordiques in 1995. "Not everyone plays consistently at the level you want, and I can say the same thing about me," said McDonagh. "But other guys stepped up and its a good thing to win both games here. You focus on one game at a time, but weve really been ready to push ourselves to consistently to put us in this manner and give ourselves a chance in every game." This is the first postseason encounter between these Original Six rivals since the opening round of the 1996 playoffs when New York won in six games. The clubs have split 14 previous playoff series, but the Rangers have now won six straight postseason games against Montreal, becoming just the fourth team in NHL history to take six playoff tilts in a row versus the storied Canadiens franchise. Both teams are attempting to get back to the Cup Final for the first time since the 1990s. Montreal was the last team based in Canada to win it all in 1993, but has yet to return to the Cup Final, and the Rangers are aiming to get back to the final stage for the first time since 1994. Willy Caballero . Van Riemsdyk scored twice and Nikolai Kulemin picked up the game-winner as Toronto snapped a three-game losing skid with a 4-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres. The Maple Leafs (12-7-1) placed the newly acquired Holland on its top line between Phil Kessel and van Riemsdyk. Scott Sinclair . -- Peyton Manning will have all of his wide receivers available for the first time in a month when the Denver Broncos begin their playoff run Jan.SAN JOSE, Calif. - After blowing a two-goal lead in the third period of their previous game, the San Jose Sharks werent feeling overly comfortable with another one. This time they added to their lead instead of squandering it, getting a goal from Logan Couture and then hanging on to beat the Los Angeles Kings 4-2 Monday night for their seventh win in nine games. "When you give up a lead in the third like we did the other day, its always in the back of your mind," coach Todd McLellan said. Couture put those fears to rest when he backhanded a rebound of a shot by Marc-Edouard Vlasic past Jonathan Quick to make it 4-1 early in the third. After allowing a power-play goal to Anze Kopitar midway through the period, the Sharks killed off two late penalties to earn the win in the first meeting between these teams since San Jose eliminated Los Angeles in the first round of the playoffs last spring. "We got that huge fourth goal which needs to be talked about a little bit more," defenceman Dan Boyle said. "If we dont get that goal, it makes for a pretty interesting finish. That fourth goal gave us that extra breathing room that we needed." Patrick Marleau scored once and assisted on San Joses other two second-period goals. Joe Thornton started the second-period outburst with his fourth goal and Boyle capped it by scoring his first of the season with San Jose on a two-man advantage as the Sharks picked up where they left off last post-season by once again beating the Kings. This was the first meeting of the season between the two California rivals, who played a tense first-round series last spring won by San Jose in six games, including three overtime wins for the Sharks. San Jose didnt need extra time this game, doing more than enough damage in a dominant second period. "Its always nice to play against those guys," Couture said. "Theres a different feeling in the building. Our fans get into it. Its exciting to be a part of it, especially to come out with a win." Jack Johnson scored on a two-man advantage to give the Kings a 1-0 lead but Quick was unable to make that hold up and Los Angeles lost its fifth straight game. "Were all confident here," Quick said. "We know were not putting it to them the full 60 minutes, at least not through this little stretch. Were outplaying teams but we cantt put them away. Yaya Toure. We have to dig down a little deeper and figure a way to get out of this." The Kings struck first just seconds into a two-man advantage. Torrey Mitchell was called for hooking with Colin White already in the box, giving Los Angeles 15 seconds with a 5-on-3 edge. The Kings didnt even need that long to score. Mike Richards beat Michal Handzus on the faceoff and the puck went to Johnson, who beat Antti Niemi with a blast from the point. But the Sharks picked up their play after that and scored three times during a span of less than six minutes. Thornton started it when he skated out from behind the net, did a reverse pivot and sneaked a backhand past Quick for the equalizer. Less than a minute later, Boyle carried the puck into the offensive zone and waited for a second before feeding a driving Marleau in front of the net for a perfectly executed tip play. The Sharks then capitalized on their own two-man advantage to take a two-goal lead late in the second. Willie Mitchell got sent off for cross checking Couture with Matt Greene already in the box. Joe Pavelski lost control of the puck in front of the net but it went straight to Boyle, who beat Quick with a blast from the slot to make it 3-1. "Its hard to paint the perfect picture, but I thought we recovered when we were pushed," McLellan said. "We found ways to get back in the game when we were behind, everyone got a chance to contribute. It was a complete game, or as close as weve come to one." The teams were scoreless after the first period despite two prime chances for Los Angeles forward Dustin Penner. After the Sharks were unable to score on a scramble in front of the net, Penner got free on a breakaway but was turned aside by Niemi. Then in the final minute of the period, Niemi made a nifty glove save on a slap shot by Penner from the slot for the best of his 29 saves. "We consider ourselves an upper-echelon team but right now were not playing like it," Greene said. Notes: Quick gave up three goals in a period for the first time since the third period of Game 4 of last seasons playoff series against the Sharks. ... Thorntons goal was his 1,013th career point, tying his boyhood hero, Pat LaFontaine, for 74th place all-time. He added an assist to move into a tie for 73rd place with Calgarys Jarome Iginla. ' ' '