Rangers Romp: New York whips Montreal 7-2 in opener of Eastern Conference final

MONTREAL – The New York Rangers are opening the Eastern Conference final with a 7-2 blowout victory over the Montreal Canadiens.

New York’s Martin St. Louis (sehn loo-EE’) silenced the raucous Bell Centre crowd with an early goal and Mats Zuccarello made it a 2-0 game a few minutes later.

Rene Bourque put Montreal on the board midway through the second period but New York replied with goals from Chris Kreider and Brad Richards.

Canadiens goaltender Carey Price was replaced in the third period by Peter Budaj (BOO’-dy).

The Rangers put the game away in the final frame with power-play goals by Ryan McDonagh, Derek Stepan and Rick Nash. Lars Eller scored a late short-handed goal for the Canadiens.

Game 2 in the best-of-seven series is scheduled for Monday in Montreal.

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