There is no doubt the Montreal Canadiens are facing adversity in the Eastern Conference Final. DeAaron Fox Jersey . Yet heading to New York, the Habs remain positive as it all comes down to the one main ingredient that the organization has built its team on - character. And now its being put to the test. From Geoff Molson, to Marc Bergevin, to Michel Therrien and right through the dressing room, the Canadiens have preached character. While the belief of "No Excuses" still hangs on the dressing room walls, the main trait they has nearly become a motto has been character. After the devastating news prior to Game 2 that Carey Price would not be available for the remainder of the series, Therrien said in his press conference that after everything Price had done for the team, it was time for the team to do something for him. Win. Win and give him a chance to return this season for a shot at the Stanley Cup. While the Canadiens could have played the sympathy card and come out flat, they came out instead with a very strong performance in Game 2 but faced a storyline they themselves have cast on opponents several times during the season. That story is facing a hot goaltender. Lundqvist was outstanding with his 40 saves. Its a game the Canadiens must build on and convince themselves they can win on the road without Price. The Habs have faced tough stretches earlier in the season, and found ways to bounce back. They will have to rely on their leadership and character to carry them through. Playoff veterans like Daniel Briere have been through these situations before. In fact, the last time the Canadiens were in the Conference Final was in 2010 against Briere and the Flyers, where Philly used both Michael Leighton and Brian Boucher to roll into an improbable appearance in the Stanley Cup Final against Chicago. Brian Gionta, Josh Gorges, Andrei Markov and Brandon Prust have all been through playoff experiences that can help in a leadership role to support the team through this adversity. Its no secret that the Canadiens will need offensive production as well from Thomas Vanek, Max Pacioretty, Brendan Gallagher and Alex Galchenyuk to name a few. A perimeter shot with no traffic in front of Lundqvist isnt going to work. Theyll need to drive the net, go back to the dirty areas and cause some traffic in front of the Rangers net. P.K. Subban will also need to put some points on the board, and help ensure the Canadiens power play can take advantage of any chances they get. It will take a full team effort, but the Habs have shown through the year they have the resiliency to battle through, and now that battle is on Broadway. Teams with great character always find a way, and while its not an easy task heading on the road trailing in the series, the opportunity is still there to change momentum back into Montreals favour. The Habs now have to find a way to seize that opportunity. Bruno Caboclo Jersey . Span, Danny Espinosa and Adam LaRoche had two hits apiece as Washington won the final two games of the series. The Nationals improved to 3-7 against Atlanta. They increased their division lead over the Braves to 1 1/2 games. Cheap Kings Jerseys . Kalish got his first hit since Sept. 11, 2012, when he rapped an RBI triple in the first inning Sunday in the Chicago Cubs 8-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies. http://www.cheapsacramentokingsjerseys.com/?tag=cheap-chris-webber-jersey .5 million, four-year contract with the Texas Rangers that could be worth $32.TORONTO – While the future face of the Maple Leafs was being introduced beside Gate 5 of the Air Canada Centre on Monday morning, the head coach of the hockey club was busy conducting exit interviews for perhaps the final time in Toronto. One player – a young defenceman, almost certain to be 23-year-old Jake Gardiner based on the clues – entered the office of Randy Carlyle and expressed frustration with the constraints he felt from the coaching staff early in the season. Carlyle was admittedly shocked by the revelation, especially taken aback by who this player compared himself with in the league. "Theres some surprising things that come back from players, something youd never imagine," Carlyle said on Tuesday afternoon, his future as the Leafs head coach on the most uncertain of terms at the outset of another disappointing offseason in Toronto. It was one more (and perhaps final) source of befuddlement for a coach still in search of answers following a season that unraveled in rapid and stinging fashion. In less than a month, his team went from chasing home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs to 12th in the East and an eighth absence from the playoffs in the past nine seasons. "We never really created an identity for our hockey club this year," he said, worn down after missing the postseason for just the second time in his NHL coaching career. "We didnt play to an identity and thats what was disturbing because we had been a competitive group in the year previous. We felt that this group going forward was ready to take the next step and a lot of people felt the same way and it didnt materialize." Carlyles imagined idea of Maple Leaf hockey was realized only in the most fleeting of moments, never consistently, be it from shift to shift, period to period, or game to game. He pushed and prodded for a team that was difficult to play against, that defended with vigour and attitude, that slugged it out for extended periods in the offensive zone (Toronto was amongst the worst possession teams in the league) and he rarely got it. Dave Bolland and David Clarkson were supposed to help establish that brand – replacing Mikhail Grabovski, Clarke MacArthur and Leo Komarov amongst others – but with Bollands long-term injury and Clarksons year-long struggle, the club actually felt off rather dramatically in terms of the identity and attitude it had established in 48 games last season. The drop-off from Grabovski to replacements for Bolland (and Tyler Bozak thereafter) was considerable as was the dip from MacArthur and Komarov to Clarkson. Those offseason changes, made by Dave Nonis, were seemingly made with the brand of the head coach in mind. Carlyle banged the drum loudly all year for what needed to change – even as the group piled up wins in early October and in parts beyond – but could never figure out how to make it stick, his brand of hockey rarely aligning with a group that was equally hard-headed and ultimately unfit to play such a style or system consistently. "We spent a lot of time and effoort on trying to create, sell, visualize what it means to be a Toronto Maple Leaf," he said. Garrett Temple Jersey. "For this year we were not able to create that. Those are the things that youre going to scratch your head and bang your head against the wall Why didnt it happen? Why didnt it happen? And thats what were all asking ourselves: Why didnt it happen? Because we had it the previous shortened season, the lockout season. We were a hard team to play against." But in the lockout year of 2013, the Leafs had a superb penalty kill, a top-10 offence and strong goaltending, elements that glossed over some of the instabilities that became quickly apparent in the 2013-14 campaign that followed. Despite woeful defensive play, they made it to March in good shape on the strength of a top-five power-play, a dominant top line and superb goaltending from Jonathan Bernier. Once those elements quieted some, the house of cards collapsed – Carlyle said they lost their "mojo" following a successful swing through California. (Over-using the likes of Phil Kessel and James van Riemsdyk down the stretch, with nothing suitable on the fourth line for support, surely didnt help matters.) Replacing the high-risk, high-reward Ron Wilson, Carlyle was supposed to dramatically alter the course of the Leafs upon his arrival in March 2012, both in terms of structure and style. He was supposed to be the elixir, especially, for how they defended, but in 2013-14, Carlyles Leafs were actually worse in keeping the puck out of the net than in Wilsons final full season behind the bench. No team in the league gave up as many shots as the squad in Toronto – 856 more in fact than the NHLs best in New Jersey – forcing the goaltending to be better than average most nights for two points. Carlyle trumpeted the struggle as a matter of compete – part of the problem certainly – obfuscating of course his inability to affect change where it was once promised he would. "Were not asking the players to do something that they havent done before or wouldnt have done in another situation – be it junior hockey or American Hockey League," Carlyle. "You have to play and you have to compete on the defensive side of the puck with will and commitment and we did not want to do that on a day-to-day basis and thats what our struggles were." His status for next season remains uncertain at best. Neither new president, Brendan Shanahan, nor his second in command Dave Nonis would say if Carlyle would be back, preferring to thoroughly assess the group first in the days ahead. "Im here today," Carlyle said. But he was still searching for answers... "If you think you have all the answers youre in the wrong business," he concluded. "Theres things that you know youd like to do differently as a staff, as a person, as an individual. Theres certain ways you deal with certain things. Theres points that you felt shouldve been a lot stronger on or you shouldve been softer on. Theres all those things. Youre going to question yourself all the time." ' ' '