THE MONTREAL CANADIENS! Against all of the odds, the Habs took out Sidney Crosby and the Pens in Game 7, which was played at the Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Montreal built an early 4-0 lead through nearly 1 1/2 periods with key goals by Brian Gionta and Mike Cammalleri, among others. Dominic Moore and Travis Moen were the other two goal scorers in that dominating stretch of hockey. Pittsburgh did attempt to get back into the game afterwards however, with goals by Chris Kunitz and Jordan Staal. All of that happened after Pittsburgh star goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury was pulled and backup Brent Johnson replaced him. As for Montreal goaltender Jaroslav Halak, he was great for the Habs when they needed him most. 25 seconds into the 3rd period, he denied Sidney Crosby of an unbelievable scoring chance from in close. This set the tone for Montreal's triumphal entry to the Eastern Conference Finals to begin, along with the many bad penalties the Penguins took early on in the game. Crosby, for example, took a horrible one 10 seconds into the game when he smashed the Canadiens Josh Gorges right into the boards. This resulted in a great power-play for Montreal and an early 1-0 Habs lead. Sid of course, as most star athletes do, was stunned that it was a penalty and whined to the referees, but after watching the replay on television, I can confidently declare that a penalty. Other notes about the game...it was the last game that will ever be played at the Mellon Arena as Pittsburgh is moving into the new Consol Energy Center this fall. Also too, the Bell Centre in Montreal was packed with a standing-room only crowd as they watched their team defeat the Penguins on the big screen: they bowed for Cammalleri and Halak, booed at Sidney Crosby, and were whipped up in a frenzy when Montreal scored or had a superb scoring chance in Pittsburgh's end of the ice. Yes sir, it was a delight to the soul and a treasure for the eyes. About the pre-game interview the CBC media had with Sidney Crosby...he seemed to be much more excited, nervous, and jumpy than the Montreal Canadiens were. Montreal's response was simply a calm and cool: "We're just excited to even BE here!" type of reply whereas Sidney Crosby was anything BUT calm, cool, and collected. So, there's only one more thing to be said: bring on the Eastern Conference Finals! Boston and Philly, hurry up; Montreal's waiting. I'd write more, but I'm still happy about the win so much that I can't. I'll be back with more later.
Here is the recap for the game: HABS WIN GAME 7! Bring on the East Finals!
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