MONTREAL — The goal came in garbage time against a backup goaltender, but that hardly mattered to Rick Nash and his Rangers teammates.
When the Rangers’ snakebit winger took a nifty back-handed pass from Mats Zuccarello from behind the Canadiens’ net and shot it past goalie Peter Budaj for a 7-1 lead 4:36 into the third period, you would have thought he scored an overtime winner based on the reaction from his teammates on the bench.
“Yeah, I think everyone gave me an extra pat after that,’’ Nash would recount later, after the Rangers’ 7-2 blowout of the Canadiens in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals at the Bell Centre. “I appreciate the support. They’ve stayed behind me, stayed positive during a big struggle.’’
The big struggle had spanned 14 goal-less playoff games for Nash this spring — despite the fact he has taken an NHL playoff-high 55 shots. Nash entered the game Saturday having scored only one goal in 26 career playoff games with the Rangers.
“It was definitely an exhale moment when [the puck] was across the line,’’ Nash said. “But most importantly, we won the game and played a solid game. I’ve said all along I try to help the team win however I can.’’
And he has. Despite having a “0’’ next his name on the goal stat sheet, Nash has been one of the Rangers’ best penalty killers, has dished out seemingly more hits in the playoffs than he had all regular season while he was leading the team with 26 goals.
Nash deferred the credit for his goal to his teammate, saying, “It was a good play by Zuccarello … and finally one went in.’’
The question now is whether this opens the flood gates for Nash. What will the impact be from one goal scored with the game having already been decided? Nash and the Rangers hope it will be a series-turning moment.
“We were obviously very happy for him, because he’s had to answer so many questions about not scoring for so long,’’ Rangers defenseman Marc Staal said. “It gets the monkey off his back and hopefully he keeps on going. He’s had some great looks, played extremely well on the PK [penalty kill], his forechecks have been hard. … It was only a matter of time before he got one.’’
Rangers center Brian Boyle, who like every other player has felt the strains of a scoring slump, praised what Nash has been bringing to the team even without scoring.
“He’s been playing so well, been maximizing his effort everywhere on the ice — blocking a ton of shots, throwing the body, playing in all areas,’’ Boyle said. “Good, bad or ugly with Nasher, he keeps his mouth shut and he tries to go out and have a tough shift time after time and that’s something that you’ve really got to respect.’’
Rangers center Dominic Moore said, “We like to see him score, but whether he does or not, he’s one of our best players night in and night out.’’
Before the game, Rangers forward Derick Brassard was almost prophetic about Nash breaking out in the Montreal series.
“I’m pretty confident that he’s going to come up big for the team,’’ Brassard said. “You can’t go competing that hard and doing all those little things and not be rewarded. It’s just a matter of time for him.’’