Well, it's official...the Montreal Canadiens have pushed their Eastern Conference Semi-Final series vs the Pittsburgh Penguins to the limit: a deciding Game 7. Game 6 was played last night at the Bell Centre in Montreal and the home team came out on top winning 4-3. This team is on the verge of performing an incredible feat: upsetting BOTH the Alexander Ovechkin-led Washington Capitals and the Sidney Crosby-led Pittsburgh Penguins out of the playoffs (all this despite the fact that Montreal finished 8th in the East and holder of the conference's last playoff seeding). The atmosphere last night was sublime and perfect: loud, enthusiastic, wildly supportive of the home team, and faithful. The fans did everything from chanting soccer noises and basketball "defense" calls (the defense calls coming in the 3rd period), booing Sidney Crosby every time he possessed the puck, encouraging their team with chants of "Go, Habs, Go!", etc. All in all, the Habs fans provided an excellent atmosphere for the game and must be congratulated for their effort just as much as the players and coaches. They have been the perfect "sixth man" for the Montreal Canadiens in these Stanley Cup Playoffs. We must not, however, forget about the players themselves. The stars of the game were goaltender Jaroslav Halak and Michael Cammalleri. Halak made 34 saves and Cammalleri scored his 10th and 11th goals of the playoffs. His first goal came early on in the first period, with 1:13 gone. Chris Letang of the Penguins turned the puck over and Cammalleri converted a give-and-go attempt with teammate Plekanac. The fans as per the usual fare mockingly praised Pittsburgh goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury by chanting his last name, but "Sid the Kid", as Crosby is nicknamed, tied it up with 7:22 gone in the first period. That goal is the FIRST even-strength (non-powerplay) goal scored in this series by either Crosby or his teammate Evgeni Malkin. That was all for the 1st period. Halak meanwhile, despite performing wonderfully, had some help in the 2nd from two key Penguins shot attempts that "hit the post", so to speak. They came by Pittsburgh forwards Malkin and teammate Sergei Gonchar. After that, however, Chris Letang scored with 5:21 gone in the period to put the Penguins ahead 2-1. With these goals, it seemed as though Montreal was fueled by this adversity and hemmed Pittsburgh in its own end of the ice in some stretches in the 2nd period. This led to superb scoring chances for the Canadiens and their fans got their money's worth. For the most part, however, Pittsburgh remained dominant for most of the action, outshooting Montreal by a 3-1 type of margin. This continued into the 3rd period, with Halak performing some of his magic from the 1st round vs Washington in Game 6 and leading Montreal in their charge for playoff supremacy. It also led to two 2nd-period ending goals: first, by Mike Cammalleri with 10:45 gone (his second of the night) that tied it 2-2. The assist was given to Andrei Kostistsyn. The good times continued for the Habs in that period despite adversity and Jaroslav Spacek scored with 13:15 gone to make it 3-2 Montreal. With 11:03 gone in the 3rd period, Maxim Lapierre scored and it was 4-2 for the Canadiens. Pittsburgh did take Fleury out of the Penguins net for an extra 6th attacker with 1:30 left in the game, and they did make it 4-3 with a tip-in goal by Bill Guerin off a shot attempt by Sergei Gonchar with 18:36 gone in the 3rd period, but Montreal retained the lead and came out victorious. Now, all that's left is to see if Montreal will upset Pittsburgh in Game 7 on Wednesday. That would be the perfect ending to the unbelievable Cinderella-type story that the Habs have proven themselves to be thus far. One more note must be made about the series...GO HABS GO!
You can see the recap here: Montreal vs Pittsburgh: Game 6
In other news, the Toronto Blue Jays lost their game last night vs the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. Much of the blame can be laid at the feet of starting pitcher Brendan Morrow, who allowed 6 walks, 5 of which came in the bottom half of the 2nd inning. The Jays entered that frame up 4-2, but the 5 walks hurt Morrow and his team as Boston scored 4 to make it 6-4 Red Sox. It was a horrible night all around for the Jays, who lost the game 7-6. Here is the recap for the game: Brendan Morrow's walk-athon vs the Boston Red Sox The Jays play Boston again tonight at 7 PM on Rogers Sportsnet.
Another post full of happenings...I'll catch you all later! Have a good day!
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