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." Air Max 270 Just Do It White . Five straight losses (and six in the past seven) now dot the schedule – matching their longest skid of the year – after they fell again in New Jersey on Sunday night, topped 3-2 by Cory Schneider and the Devils. Nike Air Max 270 Womens Sale . James Erskine said Tuesday that Thorpe was "quite sick" in a Sydney hospital but dismissed media reports the swimmer might lose the use of his left arm. "Hes not in the intensive care," Erskine said. http://www.max270cheap.com/ .Y. -- The New York Islanders were seeking a positive finish to a frustrating season on home ice. Nike Air Max 270 React Triple Black . -- Jacksonville Jaguars rookie receiver Marqise Lee has agreed to terms on a four-year contract worth more than $5 million. Cheap Nike Air Max 270 China . LOUIS -- Alexander Steen scored a power-play goal with 59.ERIE, Pa. - Connor Brown and Dane Fox both scored in regulation and in the shootout, as the Erie Otters extended their win streak to 10 games by defeating the London Knights 4-3 on Saturday in Ontario Hockey League action. Foxs goal was his league-leading 41st of the season for the Otters (29-4-1). He has 18 goals in his last 10 games. Hayden Hodgson and Darren Raddysh also scored for Erie. Ryan Rupert, Chris Tierney and Brady Austin scored for the Knights (24-6-3), who had their seven-game win streak halted. Devin Williams made 30 saves for Erie as Jake Patterson stopped 15-of-18 shots for London. The Otters went 0 for 3 on the power play while the Knights went 0 for 4. --- ICEDOGS 5 BULLS 3 BELLEVILLE, Ont. -- Brendan Perlini scored once and set up two more as Niagara downed the Bulls. Aaron Haydon and Anthony DiFruscia each had a goal and an assist for the IceDogs (10-20-4) while Graham Knott and Mitchell Fitzmorris rounded out the scoring for Niagara. Aaron Berisha, Cameron Brace and Remi Elie supplied the offence for Belleville (8-21-4). Brent Moran made 35 saves for Niagara, while Charlie Graham allowed five goals on 24 shots for the Bulls. --- PETES 3 WHALERS 2 (SO) PLYMOUTH, Mich. -- Jonatan Tanus scored the shootout winner as Peterborough handed Plymouth its eighth loss in a row. Josh Maguire and Michael Clarke scored in regulation for the Petes (13-18-3). The Whalers (11-19-4) got both goals from Ryan Horvat. Andrew DAgostini stopped 29 shots for Peterborough as Alex Nedeljkovic turned aside 28-of-30 for Plymouth. --- FRONTENACS 9 STING 1 SARNIA, Ont. -- Ryan Verbeek scored four times and Darcy Greenaway had three assists as Kingston crushed the Sting. Michael Moffat scored once and added two assists for the Frontenacs (17-10-4) while Robert Polesello, Lawson Crouse, Warren Steele and Conor McGlynn tacked on the others. Alex Carnevale scored Sarnias (11-19-3) lone goal. Matt Mahalak made 25 saves for Kingstoon as Barrick Brodie gave up all nine goals on 52 shots for the Sting.dddddddddddd --- GREYHOUNDS 3 GENERALS 0 SAULT STE. MARIE, Ont. -- Matt Murray turned away all 40 shots he faced as the Greyhounds blanked Oshawa for their first win in three outings. Blake Speers scored twice for Sault Ste. Marie (22-8-3) while Jared McCann had a goal and an assist. Ken Appleby started in net for the Generals (24-9-2) but was pulled after two periods after allowing three goals on 17 shots. Daniel Altshuler came in for the third and stopped all six shots he faced. The Greyhounds went 2 for 7 on the power play as Oshawa went 0 for 5. --- RANGERS 5 SPIRIT 1 SAGINAW, Mich. -- Darby Llewellyn scored twice and Matthew Greenfield made 45 saves as Kitchener snapped a three-game slide by defeating the Spirit. Scott Teskey, Max Iafrate and Curtis Meighan also scored for the Rangers (12-19-1) and Ryan MacInnis chipped in with two assists. Jimmy Lodge scored for Saginaw (16-13-5). Nikita Serebryakov stopped 36-of-40 shots for the Spirit. --- COLTS 4 SPITFIRES 3 BARRIE, Ont. -- Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 52 shots and Andrew Mangiapane scored the winner at 15:03 of the third period as the Colts slipped past Windsor. Mangiapane earned the games first star after scoring three times for Barrie (17-13-3) while Brendan Lemieux had the other. Cristiano DiGiacinto, Ben Johnson and Chris Cobham scored for Spitfires (20-11-1) and Brady Vail had two assists. Alex Fotinos stopped 33-of-37 shots for Windsor. --- STORM 4 ATTACK 0 OWEN SOUND, Ont. -- Matthew Mancina stopped 35 shots and Robby Fabbri scored twice as Guelph shutout the Attack. The Storm (22-7-3), who jumped out to a 3-0 lead after 20 minutes of play, also got goals from Scott Kosmachuk and Pius Suter. Brandon Hope turned away 31-of-34 shots for Owen Sound (16-11-5). Guelph went 2 for 6 on the power play while the Attack failed to score on three chances with the man advantage. ' ' '