So the big news prior to Game 2 between the Montreal Canadiens and the New York Rangers was that Alex Galchenyuk would be returning to the Habs' lineup. Oh yeah, and Carey Price was also lost for the series with an injury.

Michel Therrien took a bit of a risk in starting youngster Dustin Tokarski, and I'm not sure why. For my money, Peter Budaj has been a solid backup in Montreal and actually has seven games of playoff experience as well. Budaj also picked up two wins this year against the Boston Bruins, one against the Pittsburgh Penguins, and one against the Rangers. Tokarski looked a little out of sorts at times, and rightfully so for a guy with just a handful of games of NHL experience. Therrien was just overthinking things here, in my opinion. With Montreal down 2-0, Therrien now has a tough call for Game 3 in goal.

Things aren't going well for Thomas Vanek at the moment. He didn't even see 12 minutes of action on Monday and wasn't out on the ice for a key 6-4 for Montreal late in the game. It just goes to show you where he sits in the pecking order right now.

Alexei Emelin went down late in this one after getting hit from behind. If he's lost for a significant amount of time it's going to be a huge blow for the Montreal blue line. With Price already done they can't afford to lose a key defender, too.

There's been some talk that Kreider's play that injured Price was reckless, but I didn't see it as anything more than an unfortunate accident. What say you folks?

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Montreal fired 41 shots at Henrik Lundqvist and they beat him just once. Lundqvist looked confident as ever, especially late in the game when the Canadiens made a push. If he's playing at that level the rest of the way Montreal has no chance without Price there to try and match him.

Don't look now but Rick Nash has goals in consecutive games. What a perfect time for him to get it going.

Ryan McDonagh had a goal and an assist, giving him six points in the series after just two games. The Scott Gomez deal just won't go away for Montreal.

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Alexander Ovechkin suffered what looked to be a serious knee injury at the World Hockey Championships but appears to be okay. He was taken to the hospital and could potentially play in the medal round. That could have been a disaster for poolies if it would have cost him the start of next season. 

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Interesting move by the St. Louis Blues signing Brian Elliott to a three-year contract on Monday. This likely means Ryan Miller won’t be returning and it’s Jake Allen time in St. Louis. Miller is going to command a high price on the free agent market, so it’s not a terrible move by the Blues letting him go and going with the Allen and Elliott pair, even with what they were forced to give up for Miller at the deadline. They'll save money and can probably get similar results with the team they have in front of their netminders.

This means a couple of things:

1) Allen is going to have some serious value next year as he should be the No. 1 and earn at least 50 starts, barring an injury. The Blues are still going to be strong team and he should be the recipient of plenty of wins and some decent numbers because of it. 

2) Elliott’s value should be minimal, but it’s worth keeping in mind Ken Hitchcock’s history of not being afraid to go to him in the past. Should Allen fall on his face and struggle, expect Elliott to get in there because St. Louis isn’t in a position to let a young goalie go through a learning process. They can’t waste time when they’re in a position to win now. 

3) Miller will be an intriguing one to watch this summer in regards to where he signs. I mentioned teams that could use a goalie on Friday where Elliott was concerned, but places like Winnipeg, Calgary, and Long Island may not be as attractive for Miller. I think Washington is a possibility but California could be the landing spot, as Miller spends a lot of his offseason there. Could Anaheim be an option? With Andersen and Gibson the Ducks would seem to be set, so how about the San Jose Sharks? Antti Niemi had a bit of a down year and a rough playoffs, could moving him and signing Miller be the roster shakeup that is being anticipated?

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It was revealed that Kris Letang broke his foot and hand in the series against the Rangers, capping a nightmare season from him on the injury front. I wonder if the Penguins would be inclined to deal him for assets this summer and try and ink Matt Niskanen to a much cheaper deal than Letang’s $7.2-million salary. With the emergence Olli Maatta and Niskanen’s ability to step up when Letang was sidelined, maybe the Pens are willing to part with him and shake up their roster. Pittsburgh should be looking for a significant return in exchange for Letang, though. The Oilers and Leafs would be very interested one would think. 

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The Kings and Blackhawks had an epic exchange via their Twitter accounts leading to this sweet wager.

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Radek Bonk has officially retired. Also, Radek Bonk was apparently still playing somewhere.  

Michael Amato is an Associate Editor for DobberHockey and a News Editor for theScore. You can follow him on Twitter at @amato_mike