NEW YORK -- Madison Square Garden underwent a recent $1 billion transformation, and yet it will have another completely different feeling once the New York Rangers hit the ice in the Eastern Conference finals. Gone will be the fear of impending doom that enveloped the club during its second-round comeback against Pittsburgh. Missing will be the nerves that any goal or loss could mean the end of the season. Suddenly, the Rangers are the front-runners against the Montreal Canadiens, and their fans now have the chance to celebrate the ride with them. "Having fan support is obviously huge," Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said. "Unconditional love, its something thats really beneficial to a team." New York is riding a five-game winning streak, but four of those victories came on the road -- two in Pittsburgh when the Rangers erased a 3-1 series deficit, and the first two in this matchup with Montreal. The Rangers will skate at the Garden on Thursday night with a series lead for the first time since Game 2 of the first round against Philadelphia 15 games ago. "Its a good feeling, but we know weve accomplished nothing yet," forward Martin St. Louis said. "Were trying to prepare for a Montreal team thats going to come out with a lot of energy. We know that. This is a big game for everybody. We know where the series is, and its a big opportunity for us." Nothing is a guarantee, but to take a 3-0 series lead would set the Rangers up for their first trip to the Stanley Cup finals since 1994. Since New York fell way behind Pittsburgh with a dispirited home loss in Game 4, the Rangers have been playing with a sense of desperation. It didnt reset once they eliminated the Penguins, and so far they have shown no signs they will let the Canadiens recover. "I feel every game is a must-win in the playoffs," St. Louis said. "You go into every game understanding what can happen with a loss and what can happen with a win. Its a lot of momentum shifting, a buildup in the playoffs, and you want to make sure you keep it as long as you can." The Canadiens mindset is to regroup and play the kind of road game the Rangers did by jumping on them. Montreal is still dealing with the loss of No. 1 goalie Carey Price, who was knocked out of the series by injury in the opener, but now is trying to rally around third-stringer Dustin Tokarski. The inexperienced goalie, who has played in only 11 career NHL games, got the surprise nod by coach Michel Therrien in Game 2 over regular backup Peter Budaj and was tabbed again Wednesday to start in Game 3. Struggled forward Thomas Vanek was dropped to the fourth line in practice on Wednesday alongside Danny Briere and Brandon Prust in another potential shake-up. "Dont read too much, OK?" Therrien said. "They might change tomorrow." Whatever the lineup looks like, the Canadiens have adopted a motto of no excuses as the series shifts to New York. "We lost the first two games. Weve got to do something different," Canadiens captain Brian Gionta said Wednesday in Montreal before the team flew south. "But at the same time, we had a pretty good game in Game 2. Weve just got to find ways to get more goals and get to them a little more offensively." They netted only two in a blowout loss in the opener, and then scored one on Monday in a 3-1 loss. The Canadiens grabbed what had been an all-important first goal, but they lost the lead just 17 seconds later and were trailing 2-1 before the first period ended. Henrik Lundqvist was the main reason the Rangers were ahead, holding off an early attack and then a third-period surge in which he stopped all 19 Canadiens shots. He made 40 saves overall. "We are down two, and we are going on the road," said forward Max Pacioretty, who scored the lone Montreal goal in Game 2. "Obviously, we would have liked to have Game 2, but we can only worry about Game 3. Weve got to be better. "We have to make life difficult for their goalie, and if we do that, I like our teams chances." Pacioretty, a Connecticut native, is also looking forward to the atmosphere at the Garden, even though he will be wearing an enemy sweater. "I love MSG," he said. "I grew up watching games there. I love going there. I havent played in the finished building yet, so this will be fun for me." One person who hopes to be back on the ice on Thursday is Rangers forward Derick Brassard, who was injured early in the opener and missed all of Game 2. He went through a full practice on Wednesday and was waiting to meet with the medical staff and Vigneault to see if he would rejoin the lineup. Fellow forward Benoit Pouliot sat out for a maintenance day. Jaromir Jagr Jersey . The first baseman hit a two-run homer in the top of the ninth inning to lead the Mets to a thrilling come-from-behind 3-2 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers. Ron Hextall Jersey .Y. -- The Montreal Canadiens have had few reasons to celebrate this season as they have been mired near the basement of the Eastern Conference. http://www.hockeyflyersauthentic.com/jam...dyk-jersey/.com) - Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James will sit out Thursdays game against the Oklahoma City Thunder with left knee soreness. Robert Hagg Flyers Jersey .J. -- The NHL reduced its penalty against the New Jersey Devils on Thursday for signing Ilya Kovalchuk in 2010. Michael Raffl Flyers Jersey .B. -- Canadas Rachel Homan opened the Ford Womens World Curling Championship with a 7-5 win over Russia on Saturday.In the midst of an eight-game losing streak, Leafs assistant GM Dave Poulin was adamant that the teams recent struggles have been an outlier and that a spell of inconsistency over the span of 13 days would not cause Toronto management to alter their course. “This is 13 days," Poulin said. "Its remarkable. Its eight games in 13 days, thats what all this has taken place in. Weve been working at this for four-plus years – youre not going to let 13 days change that. A lot of good things have happened as well and a lot of good things are going in the right direction. “Its not necessarily systematic breakdowns, its individual breakdowns,” Poulin said, noting the Leafs still have “a good hockey team and weve played really well at points” and just need “to win a hockey game and get a little momentum.” Asked whether the Torontos collapse could have been predicted due to their poor defensive play -- most notably with their issues related to shot differential and possession numbers -- Poulin remained skeptical, saying that despite playing better during the losing streak, they simply havent gotten any results. “I dont think it is,&” Poulin said, backing up his comments by saying he thought teams were shooting more on the Leafs because they know the team gives up a high number of shots.dddddddddddd In reference to whether he thought the teams leadership should be called into question considering veteran players like Tyler Bozak, Joffrey Lupul, Phil Kessel and Dion Phaneuf have been present for what could be the third straight year Toronto has finished the season on the heels of a disastrous collapse, Poulin said management, “may have to very well evaluate it,” but thought this season is an outlier. “I dont see a similarity between a seventh game and three-to-four minutes in the last stretch of the game to an eight game losing streak.” Poulin said when asked about the comparison between this years team and Torontos three-goal meltdown in the third period of Game 7 versus the Bruins. In terms of the criticism Dion Phaneuf has received, Poulin said the team needs to build around the Leaf captain. “We evaluate it, but we also try to build around him,” Poulin said, relating Phaneufs situation to his own career in Philadelphia. ' ' '