NHL Playoffs : Canadiens Win, 3-1, Gain Final

Keyed by a hot rookie goaltender and a suffocating defense, the Montreal Canadiens beat the New York Rangers, 3-1, Friday night and rolled into the National Hockey League’s Stanley Cup final for the 27th time in their illustrious history.

“No one expected that a rookie could handle the pressure,” said goaltender Patrick Roy, who turned in another sharp performance in the Wales Conference final. “It’s a big satisfaction for me.”

The victory clinched the best-of-seven series for the Canadiens in five games and sent them into the final round against the winner of the Campbell Conference final between Calgary and St. Louis. That series resumes with Game 5 tonight at Calgary with the teams tied, 2-2.

Roy, statistically the top goaltender in the playoffs, made 19 saves and stymied several Ranger scoring opportunities.

“You can’t overstate what Roy meant to this club,” Montreal forward Bobby Smith said.

Smith scored the tiebreaking goal for Montreal on a second-period power play.

“I was kicked out of the faceoff circle, and (Claude) Lemieux took it and won it cleanly,” Smith said in describing the sequence of his winning goal. “He got the puck back to Larry Robinson, who shot. I backhanded the rebound off the goalie (John Vanbiesbrouck) and the post, and it went in.”