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BROSSARD, Que. -- The NHL Eastern Conference final will be more than just a rematch of the Sochi Olympic final between goaltenders Carey Price and Henrik Lundqvist. But thats where much of the attention will be when the best-of-seven series opens Saturday afternoon at the Bell Centre. Price completed a majestic Olympics as he allowed only three goals at the Winter Games in February and backstopped Canada to a 3-0 victory over Lundqvist and Sweden in the final to claim gold. He hopes to do it again in the battle of Original Six teams. "A big reason those two teams got to the gold medal game at the Olympics and why both these teams are here is goaltending," Brandon Prust, a former Ranger now skating on right wing for Montreal, said Friday. "Theyre two of the best goalies in the league, so its a great matchup there." It has been an uneven matchup in recent years however, which has to be a concern for the Rangers. The man they call King Henrik has a dreadful record when he plays in Montreal. In his career, Lundqvist is 4-5-2 at the Bell Centre with a whopping 3.87 goals-against average and .876 save percentage. He has been so bad, successive coaches John Tortorella and then Alain Vigneault have not given him the starting assignments at the Bell Centre. Lundqvists last game in Montreal was Jan. 15, 2012, when he let in four goals and was subbed by Martin Biron. Vigneault has confidence in his No. 1 goalie, however. "I cant comment on what happened in the past," he said. "All I can say is that Lundqvist is one of the best goalies in the NHL. "Hes a goalie that excels under pressure and as far as I know, there is no place in the NHL where he doesnt play well." This season, Cam Talbot started both meetings at the Bell Centre, earning his first career shutout in a 1-0 win on Nov. 16 and losing 1-0 in the regular-season finale for both clubs on April 12. Lundqvist started at home on Oct. 28 and lost 2-0 to Montreal backup Peter Budaj. "I dont think he ever played here when I was with the Rangers," said Prust. "Marty Biron always played here. "I dont think its going to be a big factor in the series. Hes a top goalie for a reason. Weve just got to make sure were getting on him right away, getting lots of shots, getting lots of traffic and just causing some havoc around there to keep that confidence away." Lundqvists last win in Montreal was a 4-3 shootout victory on March 9, 2009. His troubles seem to go back to a wild game in 2008 when the Canadiens stormed back from a 5-0 deficit to defeat the visiting Rangers. Then again, the entire Rangers team has struggled in Montreal, scoring only four goals in their last nine visits. Montreal winger Max Pacioretty isnt counting on Lundqvist crumbling at this point of the post-season. "Hes obviously a world-class goaltender and that whole mental block that you mentioned can change with one save in the first period of Game 1," said Pacioretty. "If we get worried about things we cant control, thats when we start to get away from our game." When hes not facing Montreal, Lundqvist is spectacular. He leads playoff goalies with a .931 save percentage to go with a sterling 1.99 GAA. He was especially solid as the Rangers came back from a 3-1 series deficit in their conference semifinal against Pittsburgh, allowing one goal in each of three straight wins. Price pretty much matched that as Montreal overcame a 3-2 deficit against Boston, allowing one goal in the final two games. He has also matched Lundqvists 1.99 average, to go with a .928 save percentage. "Its not always making the amount of saves, its making saves at the right time and I think hes really figured that out," Pacioretty said of Price. "In that series, every game you could say he made huge saves at the right time and it changed the momentum of the game." In Game 7 in Boston on Wednesday night, Price took the unusual initiative of standing up in the dressing room after the second period with Montreal leading only 2-1 to deliver a speech about staying calm. "Careys a leader," added Pacioretty. "Hes a man of few words, but when he speaks he knows the right things to say. "Hes been a leader since Day One that Ive been here, but right now its at a whole other level. I want to play for a guy like that and Im happy to see him step up like this." The Rangers and Canadiens will meet for the 15th time in the post-season. The teams are 7-7 against each other so far, with New York taking their last meeting in 1996. On the ice, they are similar teams, relying on speed, skill and goaltending to win, so it could make for entertaining, end-to-end hockey even if all three regular-season meetings were low scoring. The Rangers only goal against the Canadiens this season was from Ryan Callahan, who was dealt at the trade deadline to Tampa Bay for Martin St. Louis. "Theyre a lot like our team," said Montreal winger Dale Weise, another former Ranger. "Theyve got a lot of skill and speed up front and their small guys really compete, so its going to be a great matchup." For Montreal, it will be a second straight Original Six matchup against a team with a former Canadiens coach. They beat Boston and coach Claude Julien in the conference semifinal and now face New York and Alain Vigneault, who coached in Montreal from 1997 to 2001. The Rangers lineup features ex-Habs Dominic Moore, Benoit Pouliot and Raphael Diaz. And their top defenceman Ryan McDonagh was drafted by the Canadiens in 2007 but dealt to New York as part of a trade that brought the since-departed Scott Gomez to Montreal. The Canadiens look like theyll start the series with the same lineup they had in Boston, with rookie Nathan Beaulieu on the third defence pair with veteran Mike Weaver. They will soon have the option of using gifted young forward Alex Galchenyuk, who missed the opening two rounds of playoffs with a knee injury. Galchenyuk was cleared for contact practices and was on the ice Friday, but coach Michel Therrien said he will need more practice time before he can be used. "Its obviously tough not to play in the playoffs," said Galchenyuk. "You wait the whole year to be in this position, but Ive got to deal with it." Michael Gallup Jersey . Lisicki beat South African Chanelle Scheepers by a 7-5, 7-6 (7-1) margin. Next up for the Wimbledon runner-up will be Slovenian Polona Hercog, who outlasted Czech Petra Cetkovska 6-4, 5-7, 6-1. Mike White Cowboys Jersey . 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Brazilian striker Brandao opened the scoring with a header in the 55th minute before winger Franck Tabanou volleyed home from close range to double the lead in the 61st.WASHINGTON -- Heres an audacious way to get a promotion: Tell the big boss what hes been doing wrong. Brian MacLellan did just that when he interviewed with owner Ted Leonsis for the Washington Capitals general manager job. "He led off with some of the things that I have to do to be a better owner," Leonsis said. "I thought that was very brave and very astute, because you dont want to hear things like that." MacLellans strategy helped him pull an upset. Leonsis was looking for a new direction and hadnt intended to promote from within after George McPhees contract wasnt renewed, but MacLellans candour helped him rise above the 15 or so candidates and land the job. "I didnt think I had anything to lose," MacLellan said. MacLellan has been with Washington for 13 seasons, including seven as assistant GM, but most of his work had been in scouting and he had rarely spoken to Leonsis. His message: When everyone in the organization is not on the same page, including the owner, the product on the ice suffers. Such was the case last season with McPhee and coach Adam Oates, and the result was a team that missed the playoffs for the first time in seven years despite 51 goals from Alex Ovechkin. "I think the important point I was trying to make is that I think the team feels when theres a disconnect," MacLellan said, "or (when) theres not a unified philosophy from ownership to manger to coach." MacLellan was introduced alongside Barry Trotz, the longtime Nashville Predators coach who replaces Oates. While MacLellan was one of many GM candidates, Trotz was the only coach the Capitals interviewed. His only hang-up was that he had to wait for a GM to get in place, and to make sure it was someone who shared a similar vision. "Its where I starrted," said Trotz, who coached the Capitals top minor league affiliate in the 1990s before spending 15 seasons with the Predators, "so I feels like I was coming home.dddddddddddd" Leonsis said he was keen to get someone with a solid track record after five consecutive McPhee hires who had no previous NHL head coaching experience. "We are not rebuilding the team," Leonsis said. "But we are going to refresh the team." Ovechkin has been forced to adjust to multiple offensive systems through several coaching changes in recent years. One of Trotzs priorities will be to sit down with the three-time league MVP and discuss the way forward. "My job as a coach is to find a way to allow Alex and the other players to reach their potential as a group, and be able to play together," Trotz said. "One of the very fundamental things, if you have a kindergarten, they give you your report card and they say, Do you play well with others? My job is to get everybody to play well with the others." Trotz downplayed his reputation as a defensive-minded coach, saying he didnt have the same firepower in Nashville that hell have in Washington. "I dont want to take anything away from the Capitals offensively. ... (They have) great power plays and great individuals that can put the puck in the net," Trotz said. "I didnt have that in Nashville. I had some real good players, but not enough up front, so we become a little more of a defensive team." Trotz said he doesnt see why the Capitals cant get back in the Stanley Cup mix right away, assuming they can forge the unified gameplan envisioned by MacLellan. "Theres enough ability here," Trotz said. "We just have to forge a little bit of an identity going forward." 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