Rangers 7, Canadiens 2: Defenseman Ryan McDonagh collected a goal and three assists while Mats Zuccarello netted a tally and set up two others as visiting New York emphatically won Game 1 of the Eastern Conference final.

Rick Nash scored to snap a 17-game playoff goal-scoring drought and added an assist to match the performances of Martin St. Louis, Derek Stepan and Chris Kreider. Brad Richards netted his club-best fifth tally for the Rangers, who became the first team to score at least seven goals in Game 1 of a conference final since Chicago recorded eight versus Edmonton in 1992. Game 2 in Monday in Montreal.

Rene Bourque atoned for committing back-to-back minor penalties in the first period by depositing captain Brian Gionta's centering feed past Henrik Lundqvist (20 saves) with 7:22 remaining in the second to trim New York's lead to 2-1. The wheels began to come off six minutes later as Kreider breezed by Canadiens defenseman Alexei Emelin and beat Carey Price (16 saves) before Richards scored from a sharp angle with 12 seconds left in the session.

New York kept up the intensity by scoring three power-play goals in a 3:08 span early in the third against Peter Budaj (five saves), who replaced Price to begin the period. McDonagh's blast from between the faceoff circles at 1:28 gave the Rangers a 5-1 lead before Stepan scored a 5-on-3 goal from in close at 4:11. Nash ended his pronounced drought just 25 seconds later with a wrist shot from the right circle before Lars Eller's short-handed goal with 4:38 remaining capped the scoring.

Dominic Moore's brilliant passing played a role in New York's first two goals as his backhanded centering feed from the right circle found St. Louis on the doorstep for an easy tap-in 4:35 into the contest. Moore once again went to his backhand less than two minutes later to set up Zuccarello, who alertly collected the puck after it caromed off the skate of McDonagh and beat Price from in close.

GAME NOTEBOOK: New York C Derick Brassard suffered an upper-body injury early in the first period while absorbing an open-ice hit from Montreal D Mike Weaver. Brassard did not return to the contest. ... Kreider crashed into the extended right knee of Price during a partial breakaway 3:25 into the second. Price remained on the ice for several moments but finished the period. ... Montreal yielded seven goals on home ice for the fourth time in franchise history. Carolina was the last team to torch the Canadiens by such a margin, doing so on May 13, 2002. ... Eleven different members of the Rangers recorded at least one point.