Dominic Moore, for better or worse, has been best known as the veteran Rangers center who tragically lost his 32-year-old wife, Katie, to liver cancer in January 2013.
Now Moore will forever be known in Rangers lore for something else: Stanley Cup playoff hero.
An often frenetic Eastern Conference finals between the Rangers and Canadiens, a series that — from start to finish — was bubbling over with fascinating and controversial storylines, ended in a 1-0 Rangers victory Thursday night at Madison Square Garden, sending them to their first Stanley Cup final in 20 years.
And it came with Moore scoring the only goal of the game. Write your own headline:
•  “Four MOORE games for the Rangers.’’
•  “One MOORE Cup.’’
Until he broke the rising tension inside the restless Garden, a tension that was palpable in a scoreless game with the clock bleeding out on the second period, Moore’s greatest gift to the Rangers in this series had been his versatility.
When key players went down with injuries against the Canadiens, Moore was there to fill the void, allow the team to power on and not miss a beat.
When center Derick Brassard was knocked out by a Mike Weaver hit in Game 1, a hit that would keep Brassard out two games with a shoulder injury, Moore was there to take his place, centering the line that included wings Mats Zuccarello and Benoit Pouliot.
When center Derek Stepan had his jaw broken by a late Brandon Prust hit in Game 3 at the Garden, causing the Rangers’ top-line center to miss Game 4, Moore was there to center the line that includes wings Rick Nash and Carl Hagelin.
Moore was back on his regular line for Game 6 on Thursday night, centering between wingers Brian Boyle and Derek Dorsett, and he ended up playing the role of hero with that monstrous goal at 18:07 of the second period.
“He’s not afraid of big moments,’’ Rangers defenseman Marc Staal said. “Every time we’ve had a big game, he’s stepped up with a great performance. He’s a guy that talks about that a lot, too, not being afraid to make mistakes, going out there and playing confident. He played a great game.’’
On the goal, Moore got help from Boyle and Ryan McDonagh, both of whom made fantastic reads on the play.
McDonagh got it started by digging the puck out from behind the Montreal net and sliding it to Boyle, also behind the net on the other side. Boyle backhanded it to Moore in front while Montreal defenseman Francis Bouillon made a bad read, trying in vain to intercept the pass.
With Bouillon committed and out of the play, Boyle’s pass got to the stick of Moore, who had a free look at an open side of the net with goalie Dustin Tokarski late to cover the open net and Daniel Briere late to cover Moore.
“When Boyle got it behind the net, I tried to let him know I was there and he made a great play,’’ Moore said.
He’s not afraid of big moments. Every time we’ve had a big game he’s stepped up with a great performance.
- Marc Staal on Moore
Moore’s goal, his third of the playoffs to go along with four assists, seemed to liberate the Rangers, who appeared to be playing cautiously at times, perhaps afraid of making that big, game-changing mistake. After the goal, the Rangers began to swarm Tokarski with several huge scoring chances early in the third period.
“When we got that goal, I think we started to play on our toes a bit more, and we’re at our best when we’re on our toes,’’ Moore said.
“It was a huge goal,’’ Rangers defenseman Dan Girardi said. “We were playing well, but that line just had a great shift for us, got some momentum and got that goal for us and we didn’t look back from there.’’
For Moore, looking back takes him on an emotional ride. He had taken the 2012-13 season off and returned to play this year for the Rangers, who had originally drafted him in 2000.
“It’s been a long, pretty amazing journey so far and hopefully it continues,’’ Moore said. “But looking back, I owe a lot to my teammates, because the early part of the season was definitely not easy for me, taking that much time off.’’