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MONTREAL -- Its Brad Richards turn to be the old hand, tutoring his young New York Rangers teammates on what its like to win a Stanley Cup. It wasnt like that in 2004, when Richards and teammate Martin St. Louis won the Cup with the Tampa Bay Lightning. "This whole playoffs its been fun to do that," the 34-year-old Richards said Tuesday. "When I was in Tampa, Marty also, we didnt really have a clue what we were doing. "We were first time through it, leaning on other people, older people, asking them all the questions. Its fun to try to gather the group and talk about things. This group has come together so much and they ask a lot of questions. They make fun of us a lot for doing that, too, but its fun to try to help out that way." The Rangers are two wins away from a trip to the Stanley Cup final after taking the opening two games of the NHL Eastern Conference final from the Canadiens in Montreal. They swamped the flat-footed Canadiens 7-2 in the series opener on Monday afternoon, but then needed a 40-save effort from goalie Henrik Lundqvist to pull out a 3-1 win in a major Montreal push-back on Monday night. Game 3 is set for Thursday night at Madison Square Garden. In 2004, the Canadiens came back to beat Boston in the opening round but then were swept by the Lightning. This year, Montreal is again coming off a Game 7 win over the Bruins and is in danger of losing in four straight to the Rangers. That has Richards, a P.E.I. native who played junior hockey in Quebec with the 2000 Memorial Cup champion Rimouski Oceanic, and Montreal native St. Louis at 6-0 in career playoff games against the Canadiens. Their message to teammates who havent won a Cup is to not let the opportunity slip away. "Weve been to the conference final twice in three years, thats very rare," said Richards. "Look at teams around the league that you think are going to have chances to win Cups every year and it just doesnt happen. "Its very tough. I havent been back to a final since 04. I just try to hammer that stuff home." And despite taking the first two games on enemy ice, the conference final is far from over even if Montreals star goalie Carey Price is out with a suspected right knee injury for the rest of the series. The Canadiens had the puck most of the first period on Monday but came out of it down 2-1 due to an unlucky bounce on a shot from the red-hot Ryan McDonagh and blast on the rush from Rick Nash that was perhaps third-string goalie Dustin Tokarskis only big mistake. Montreal will no doubt come out hard again in Game 3. "Im sure they have more," said Richards. "And you dont always roll the dice that your goalies going to stop all those shots. "They could come with less and score two goals. You just never know. But youve got to give yourself an opportunity and thats by holding onto pucks and getting it down the other end. We did that in Game 1, but in Game 2... youre playing with fire is what Im trying to say." Montreal coach Michel Therrien said his team is confident it can still win the series if it gives up fewer odd-man rushes and keeps up the fast-paced game it brought on Monday night. "I believe that we will turn it around," said Therrien. "Yes, the first game was tough for us emotionally and physically. "We didnt get much time between Game 7 (against Boston) and Game 1 (against the Rangers), and it was an afternoon game. It shows in the result. But I thought we regrouped really well. We were a team that played with a lot of energy, that was pushing the pace, and we played a solid game." Therrien spoke to the media on a conference call while his players took what he said was a much-needed day off. They will practice on Tuesday before flying to New York. "The only thing that were going to focus on is to make sure weve got another solid game in New York," he said. "You get one win and after that, the momentum can change really quickly in the playoffs." There is also the chance of fatigue setting in on the Rangers, whose first two rounds went seven games each. Therrien touched off a debate by giving Tokarski his first NHL playoff start over regular backup Peter Budaj, who let in three goals on eight shots after subbing for Price in the third period of the series opener. It seemed like a hunch. The 24-year-old Tokarski, who has played only 10 NHL regular season games over five years with Tampa Bay and Montreal, has a history of winning championships at the junior and AHL levels, while Budaj has a career 0-2-0 NHL playoff record. It appeared Therrien will stick with Tokarski, at least for Game 3. He said Tokarski played well and wasnt the reason they lost. He also liked what he saw of Alex Galchenyuk, who missed the final two games of the regular season and the first 12 playoff games with a knee problem. The gifted forward taken third overall in the 2012 draft skated on left wing on the second line with Tomas Plekanec and Thomas Vanek. "For a guy that hadnt played for six weeks, I thought he did well," said Therrien. "Especially because this is not regular season pace, this is a playoff pace. "I thought Alex was capable, made some plays. The more the series goes on, the more were going to see Alex get better and better." It should be a happy homecoming for Rangers sniper Nash, who was without a goal in the playoffs and endured some booing in New York before the team got to Montreal. Then he scored in each of the first two games. "Ive tried to stay positive through this whole thing," said Nash. "The teams winning, and thats all I care about. "But I want to do what I can to help the team win, and its frustrating when you cant help offensively and youre supposed to." After Game 2, coach Alain Vigneault said he had an inkling that Montreal would start Tokarski, who he referred to as "that gentleman." Asked if he had another inkling for Game 3, Vigneault said: "I do, but Im not willing to share it with you." . Canada will host Japan in a World Group first-round match in 2015. It will be a rematch of their first-round clash last year when Japan defeated Canada 4-1 to reach the World Group quarter-finals for the first time in its history. . A Swiss Federal Tribunal ruling published Friday said that FIFAs disputes panel and the Court of Arbitration for Sport correctly imposed the sanction for Nantes enticing Guinea forward Ismael Bangoura to break his contract with Dubai club Al Nasr in January 2012. . Philbin said Thursday he wants players to treat one another with civility and he wont tolerate anything less. In taking questions for the first time since Ted Wells released his report into the bullying scandal that rocked the league, Philbin made it clear things would be cleaned up. . However, Therrien added that Galchenyuks status for next Wednesdays game against the Detroit Red Wings is questionable. Galchenyuk has been out since Jan. 6 with a broken right hand. . Jeff Green and Jordan Crawford each scored 19 points, Bass added 15 points and had a game-saving block in the closing seconds Saturday, and the Celtics held on for a 103-100 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.ANAHEIM – Adam Lind will be lost to the Blue Jays for most of the second half of the season with a fracture in his right foot. Not only does the injury do further damage to the clubs hopes of a first playoff appearance in more than 20 years, it damages the franchises reputation because of how the injury was diagnosed. Lind volunteered the information after Wednesdays 8-7 loss to the Angels. "My mom wanted me to get an MRI, which we hadnt had yet because it wasnt getting any better," said Lind. "I asked for an MRI and it showed it." The fracture is the result of the ball Lind fouled off his foot on June 14 in Baltimore. At the time, he underwent a CT scan, which revealed a deep bruise. Lind said he was told he could not make the injury worse by playing. He pinch hit in games in New York (June 19) and Cincinnati (June 20, 21) before returning to the starting lineup as the designated hitter on June 23. At the time, he acknowledged his return to the starting lineup was expedited in the wake of injuries to Brett Lawrie (fractured right index finger) and Jose Bautista (hamstring). Since that time, Edwin Encarnacion has landed on the disabled list with a Grade-2 strain of his right quadriceps. Its not clear whether the initial CT scan missed the diagnosis or whether Lind was given bad information regarding the consequences of playing with the injury. The bottom line is Linds gone, taking his .320/.389//.dddddddddddd489 (.369/.434/.570 versus right-handed pitchers) slash line with him. "Its not good," he said, in what qualifies as the understatement of the year. The Blue Jays, 1-6 through the Oakland and Anaheim portions of their 10-game, pre-All-Star Break road trip, have a day off on Thursday before settling in to Tampa Bay for three games with the Rays. A roster move will have to be made with Dan Johnson making the most sense. Johnson, 34, is a left-handed hitter whos best served as a designated hitter. He can occasionally play first base. He is a poor mans Lind, racking up more than three years of major league service time spread over eight seasons with four organizations. In 92 games with Triple-A Buffalo this year, Johnson is hitting .251/.405/.479 with 17 home runs and 19 doubles. He is best remembered for a home run he hit off Yankees reliever Cory Wade on the final day of the 2011 regular season. Johnsons Tampa Bay Rays overcame a 7-0 deficit as the Boston Red Sox, up in Baltimore, completed their fried chicken and beer-induced implosion that cost manager Terry Francona his job. The Rays would beat the Yankees in 12 innings on an Evan Longoria home run and enter the playoffs in improbable fashion. Without Lind, Encarnacion and Lawrie for the foreseeable future and with Bautista playing through continued pain in his hamstring, the Jays are beaten up as they get beaten on a near daily basis. ' ' '
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