MONTREAL — At Montreal barber shop Chez Menick, the talk almost always seems to focus on two topics: hair and hockey.
Since the start of the playoffs, customers have been dreaming of the Habs going all the way, but not any more.
“In our dreams, we were supposed to win the Stanley Cup,” shop owner Domenic Perrazino told Global News.
“People are down.”
The New York Rangers are proving to be a difficult challenge for the Montreal Canadiens.
READ MORE: Rangers defeat Canadiens 3-1, lead series 2-0
They are up 2-0 in the series, and the Blueshirts could realistically sweep the third-round playoff series next Sunday.
The Habs are without their one of their best players, goaltender Carey Price, who was injured in the first period of the first game.
Rookie Dustin Tokarski played in Game 2, losing a 3-1 decision.
The Rangers appear to be a very confident bunch.
Global News spotted the team outside the Ritz-Carlton Hotel with smiles on their faces.
New York head coach Alain Vigneault said despite the commanding lead in the series, he remains cautious for Game 3 Thursday.
“Give Montreal full marks, they came at us hard,” Vigneault said at a news conference Tuesday.
“At the end of the day, we need to play better than we did, we can’t rely on our goaltender as we did last night. It’s not going to happen next game.”
For the first time in the 2014 playoffs, the Canadiens appear to be a frustrated group.
“We’re just not getting the bounces,” Habs defenceman P.K. Subban told reporters Monday.
READ MORE: ‘Rangers will be the toughest series for us so far’: Subban
“It sucked. We thought we controlled the game but they got a couple of lucky bounces,” Habs forward Alex Galchenyuk noted.
In a telephone conference with reporters, Canadiens head coach Michel Therrien appeared to be criticizing referees for “not getting some calls Monday.”
“You know what, to win hockey games, you need some breaks and we didn’t have any breaks yesterday,” Therrien said.
“Right now, the Rangers have the breaks.”
It is still not clear who will be in net for the Canadiens during Game 3; possibly rookie Dustin Tokarski again, or the nod could go to veteran backup Peter Budaj.
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