Canadiens vs Rangers

For additional insight into the Stanley Cup Playoff series between the New York Rangers and Montreal Canadiens, NHL.com has enlisted the help of former NHL coach Craig Ramsay to break down the action. Ramsay will be checking in throughout the series.

Ramsay played in more than 1,000 NHL games with the Buffalo Sabres before going on to coach the Sabres, Philadelphia Flyers and Atlanta Thrashers. In the 2000 Stanley Cup Playoffs, he led the Flyers to the seventh game of the Eastern Conference Final. Ramsay most recently was an assistant coach with the Florida Panthers.

Two games in six days have afforded the New York Rangers and Montreal Canadiens ample time to engage in the art of mind games while they wait for the Eastern Conference Final to resume.

The Canadiens and Rangers, particularly coaches Michel Therrien and Alain Vigneault, have used the media to deliver messages to each other, the referees and the NHL about players, tactics, hits, injuries and really whatever else they felt like talking about regardless of the question they were asked.

Longtime NHL coach and player Craig Ramsay wasn't surprised to hear that the coaches were using the media as their conduit when he was informed about the background noise in the series on Saturday.

Ramsay said this type of message sending and these mind games typically have a purpose that extends beyond simply attempting to air some grievances in the press.

NEW YORK -- They began the moment this Eastern Conference Final between the Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers was set and continue unabated leading into Game 4 of the series Sunday at Madison Square Garden (8 p.m. ET, NBCSN, CBC, RDS).

The Rangers might lead the best-of-7 series 2-1, but the count on mind games won by either team is not quite as clear.

And it seems nearly as important.

As the Canadiens and Rangers each took to the ice for practice Saturday, what was said in the dressing rooms and on the podium was of far greater interest.

Rangers coach Alain Vigneault was up first, and he did not disappoint.

NEW YORK -- New York Rangers forward Daniel Carcillo has requested that NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman review his automatic 10-game suspension for violating Rule 40.3 (physical abuse of officials - category 2), the National Hockey League Players' Association announced Saturday.

Carcillo was involved in a physical altercation with linesman Steve Driscoll at 5:51 of the first period of Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final against the Montreal Canadiens. He was assessed a game misconduct for physical abuse of officials.

Carcillo's suspension was announced on Friday. He had 72 hours to request a review, according to Rule 40.5 (automatic suspension -- process). He will have an in-person appeal with Commissioner Bettman, but no date and time had been set by the time the NHLPA announced the appeal shortly after 5 p.m. ET on Saturday.

NEW YORK -- If Brian Boyle had his way he'd be a New York Ranger for life. He's a New Englander-turned-New Yorker, and he's proud of it.

"My heart has always been here," Boyle told NHL.com on Saturday.

Boyle might have to pull his heart out of New York City and lose his allegiance to the Rangers after this season, his fifth in the Big Apple. He can become an unrestricted free agent on July 1 and there has been no indication from the Rangers that they plan to re-sign him.

However, the uncertainty of Boyle's future here has added another layer to his motivation in the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs. He's not close to ready for his Ranger career to end, a fact that has only incentivized him to be a factor in the playoffs.

NEW YORK -- The New York Rangers expect to have a new look in the middle for Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Final.

Derick Brassard said he's "100 percent" in after missing the past two games with an upper-body injury. However, Derek Stepan had surgery to repair his broken jaw Friday night and coach Alain Vigneault said he is "unlikely" to play Sunday against the Montreal Canadiens (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, RDS).

The Rangers lead the best-of-7 series 2-1.

NEW YORK -- Montreal Canadiens coach Michel Therrien and his staff knew there would be some politics involved when they decided to turn to rookie goaltender Dustin Tokarski to take over the starting duties for the injured Carey Price prior to Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Final.

One of the most popular players in the Canadiens' dressing room is backup goaltender Peter Budaj, who has remained a backup while Tokarski became the toast of the NHL, at least for now. If someone wanted to coax a member of the Canadiens, just about any one, to start belting out compliments, the easiest way to do it would be to ask him about Budaj.

Therrien knew this, so before telling the hockey world that Tokarski would be his man for the foreseeable future, he had to know his decision would work in the room.

NEW YORK -- New York Rangers center Derek Stepan sustained a broken jaw in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final on Thursday, coach Alain Vigneault said Friday.

Stepan was scheduled to have surgery Friday night. His status for Game 4 Sunday at Madison Square Garden (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, RDS) won't be known until Saturday at the earliest, according to Vigneault.

The Rangers lead the Montreal Canadiens 2-1 in the best-of-7 series.  

TORONTO -- New York Rangers forward Daniel Carcillo has been automatically suspended for 10 games as a result of being assessed a Game Misconduct penalty under Rule 40.3 Physical Abuse of Officials -- Category II during Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final in New York on Thursday, May 22, the National Hockey League announced today.

NEW YORK -- If ever one goal could give a line confidence and have a carryover effect in a series, it's the goal that Alex Galchenyuk scored in overtime Thursday night.

A shot from Tomas Plekanec and a rebound off of Galchenyuk's arm that deflected past New York Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist was the difference in the Montreal Canadiens' 3-2 win in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final at Madison Square Garden.

The Rangers still have a 2-1 lead in the best-of-7 series, and Game 4 is Sunday at the Garden (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, RDS), where it will be interesting to see if Montreal's second line of Galchenyuk, Plekanec and Brian Gionta can build off of one lucky break that, for now at least, has turned the series on its ear.

"It gives you confidence," Gionta said, "but at the same time we've gotta go back and try to figure out what we can do better to establish a better forecheck, to get on their D, force them to turn pucks over and come to the net with it."

NEW YORK -- It was an opportunity the New York Rangers were happy to have in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final against the Montreal Canadiens: They were in overtime, at home, with a chance to move within one win of a series sweep.

But the Rangers skated off as frustrated losers after a favorable bounce off the arm of Alex Galchenyuk and a standout performance by rookie goaltender Dustin Tokarski gave Montreal a 3-2 win and new life in the series.

The best-of-7 series resumes Sunday at Madison Square Garden (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, RDS). But instead of having a chance to sweep the Canadiens and advance to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 1994, the Rangers need a victory to avoid letting the Canadiens regain the home-ice advantage that New York grabbed by winning the first two games in Montreal, outscoring the Canadiens 10-3.

New York outshot Montreal 37-25 and carried the play for most of the night. But Galchenyuk's goal 72 seconds into overtime left the disappointed Rangers feeling they'd deserved better.