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. Carter Kieboom Nationals Jersey . 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. Howie Kendrick Jersey . A quick first step to get to the hoop for a layup. A rousing dunk on the break off a high outlet pass saved by teammate Ramon Sessions. Stitched Nationals Jerseys .com) - Former FBI director Robert Mueller said his investigation found no evidence that the NFL saw the elevator video of Ray Rice striking his then-fiancee before the tape was released in September. https://www.cheapnationals.com/1787r-brian-dozier-jersey-nationals.html . Trailing 5-4 in the third set, the 12th-ranked Isner fought off two match points and evened it at 5-5 with consecutive aces. The former University of Georgia star had his only service break of the match to go up 6-5 before firing the last four of his 30 aces to close out Ginepri, an Atlanta resident ranked 281st.BATA, Equatorial Guinea - Top-ranked African team Algeria and four-time champion Ghana still have work to do to make the quarterfinals at the African Cup of Nations and avoid the severe embarrassment of an early elimination.Both have lost once in Equatorial Guinea, ensuring their final games in Group C on Tuesday are loaded with pressure.Algeria meets surprise group leader Senegal in Malabo and Ghana plays South Africa in Mongomo. For each, a win would guarantee a place in the last eight, but a draw could become complicated and bring in the tiebreaker rules to decide who progresses. Defeat means an early flight home.Algeria — as so often happens with pre-tournament favourites at the African Cup — has found the going tougher than expected. The North Africans took time to get going against South Africa, then gave up a stoppage-time goal in a loss to Ghana.Coach Christian Gourcuff blamed the field in the remote far-eastern city of Mongomo for many of his teams problems, and promised they would be more effective at the stadium in the capital city Malabo.That leaves no room for excuses against an unbeaten Senegal side that has pace, power and confidence — and needs just a point to go through.Gourcuff has had a tough time over the past week. His mother died ahead of the Ghaana loss and he has faced criticism back home for his tactics. Raudy Read Nationals Jersey. Algerias highly rated attacking trio of Islam Slimani, Yacine Brahimi and Sofiane Feghouli has yet to get going and striker Slimani will miss the Senegal game with injury, the federation said.Add in the logistical problems of the border town of Mongomo, where the Algerians hotel was more than an hour away from their rugged training field, and the squad is likely looking forward to Malabo.Some players are not happy, captain Madjid Bougherra said of the time in Mongomo. But its OK ... we are a family.For Ghana, that glorious run to the quarterfinals at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa is a distant memory.A terrible World Cup in Brazil last year has been followed by early struggles at the African Cup under former Chelsea coach Avram Grant. He had a hard introduction when Ghana threw away a 1-0 lead and lost 2-1 to Senegal with a goal in the dying seconds of its opener.But captain and lead striker Asamoah Gyan is back now after a mild bout of malaria, returning to the team to score a crucial late winner against Algeria. His presence gives the Ghanaians a major lift.Hes a great player, a fantastic player, great attitude, Grant said of his skipper. Hes fantastic in important games. ' ' '