MONTREAL — Ryan McDonagh has turned his game around so much he can now find his name next to that of Brian Leetch in the Rangers’ record book.
McDonagh tallied a goal and three assists in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals on Saturday afternoon, a 7-2 win over the Canadiens at the Bell Centre. The four points made McDonagh the first defenseman in team history to reach that mark in the postseason since Leetch did it in Game 4 of the 1994 Stanley Cup Finals against the Canucks.
“Great player, I’m honored for sure,” said McDonagh, his team attending the funeral of Martin St. Louis’ mother on Sunday with Game 2 in Montreal on Monday night. “But like I said, I’m more worried about trying to win this series and win hockey games.”
McDonagh said that milestone, “will be something for down the road,” as right now his main focus is on continuing his strong play. The Blueshirts’ No. 1 defenseman started the playoffs playing rather poorly, having missed the final five games of the regular season with a left-shoulder injury, yet returning for Game 1 of the first-round series against the Flyers.
Starting in Game 5 of the second-round series against the Penguins, McDonagh has turned it on, and his team hasn’t lost since.
It is also inevitable that every day in this series he is reminded about the trade that sent him from the Canadiens to the Rangers in a horribly lopsided exchange for Scott Gomez.
“Obviously when I got traded to the Rangers, it’s all about them,” McDonagh said. “That’s the business part of the game, and I learned it at a young age. Can’t be more excited to be a part of this team and what we’ve got going on here.”
Rangers coach Alain Vigneault had little to update in terms of the status of center Derick Brassard, who left Game 1 just two shifts in and did not return with what was an apparent back injury.
“I think he was day-to-day [Saturday],” Vigneault said, “and he’s day-to-day [Sunday].”
Canadiens coach Michel Therrien made it sound as if there were a distinct chance that stud forward Alex Galchenyuk could return from a lower-body injury that has kept him sidelined since late in the regular season.
“He’s doing really good,” Therrien said. “He’s cleared for contact, he practiced well, and we’ll see for [Monday].”
Galchenyuk, 20, was taken by the Canadiens with the third-overall pick in the 2012 draft, and had 13 goals and 18 assists in 65 games this season.