Montreal Canadiens vs. Pittsburgh Penguins (Gm 1)

Musings and In-Game Scribbles playoffs

My English is as good as yours, I just write these in a stream-of-consciousness mode that I insist excuses me from small things like rules of grammar or general etiquette. Let’s call it conversational English, hopped up on beans. You know what kind of beans (no, Carl Mellesmoen, not the magic ones).

Montreal Canadiens
visit
Pittsburgh Penguins

Friday, April 30th, 2010

Round Two – Playoffs (Series tied 0-0)
Game One (score posted following scribbles)

Missed it? Musings capture the game in writing. A written transcript typed during the game, posted and edited about thirty minutes afterward. Based on the RDS French telecast of the Montreal Canadiens game, Musings take about 20 minutes to read. More detailed than an article, fresher than a looping highlight and good with morning coffee. Or late-night chocolate. A unique way to re-experience the game.

What are your criteria?  Wins?  Losses?  A false champion’s demeanour?

Reseau des Sports’ venerable Jacques Demers gives the edge to Pittsburgh on intangibles and coaching to make up for giving edges to Montreal in goaltending and defence.  It’s the only way he can look astute.

It’s easy to pick favourites, fan pontiffs.  Can you pick which series will be the upsets?  Huh?  Can you?  Can you?

No team is playing better team hockey for longer sustained periods than Montreal right now.  Should that continue there will be little for Pittsburgh to respond with.  They have the false confidence of the undeserved champion; it’s a confidence that shatters like glass.

Yeah, play your cracking horn.

Quick shot of Montreal forward Andrei Kostitsyn pushing onto the ice spotlights and expectation is the motif.

The failed horns of B-level cartoon orchestration bale through the soundsphere.

Our anthem is wrecked by some non-profit sector fund-raising executive.  He does just as bad a job with the American tune.  Who hired this guy?

Marc-Andre Fleury and Jaroslav Halak are the goalies and one of the best refs in the business, Bill McCreary is on the ice.  Chris Lee is with him.  I’d say he’s embattled but perhaps he’s beleaguered.  You decide.

Canadiens will win this series in six, perhaps five, by the way.  The Penguins make more mistakes than the Caps.  And Montreal is hermetic nowadays.

First Period

Scott Gomez’ line starts (Brian Gionta and, this time, Travis Moen, not Benoit Pouliot).  Sidney Crosby line for Pittsburgh.  L’homme de Rimouski.  Uh.  Nouvelle-Ecosse.

Habs enter early.

Pass to defenceman Hal Gill at the point.  Shot.  Rebound is missed by Gionta.

Lots of space afforded by the Penguins early.

Josh Gorges is on with Gill, the customary pairing.  And they are now the number one pairing.  Until someone decides to pair premiere Andrei Markov with someone other than mistake-prone Ryan O’Byrne.

Play-by-play impresario Pierre Houde says Pittsburgh’s Matt Cooke is disliked.

Early shot on Halak is stopped.  Short side and close.  One knee down and shoulder on the post.

Maxim Lapierre, Dominic Moore and Pouliot are on now.

The Pittsburgh Mellon Center crowd is in observation mode.  Quiet.  Mostly dressed in white.

Pittsburgh has all the commitment of a late November weekday night.

Canadiens are pressing.  Chasing.  Gill and Gorges remain on with three minutes elapsed.  Go Pens go chant starts and lasts about three seconds.

Moen checks Chris Kunitz in the corner to Fleury’s left.

Pens exit.  They are able to get a pass to the point.  Shot by dynamic Pen defenceman Sergei Gonchar.  Nope.

Tomas Plekanec line is on for Montreal.  The Czech centre can’t come up with the puck in the corner but delivers a blow.

Now Kostitsyn and the intrepid Mike Cammalleri work against two behind the Pittsburgh net.  Kostitsyn digs it out and curls around; shot-pass.  Fleury covers.

Faceoff.

Won by the Canadiens.  To the point.  Newbie defenceman PK Subban shoots.  It waits like a billiard ball.  And goes in.

Through the five hole.  And there was no waiting.  The white waited.  The black entered.  Houde hesitated.  Et moi.

Montreal 1, Pittsburgh 0

Wasn’t a powerful shot says Houde in explanation of his hesitation.

Early entry by Pouliot.  Shot.

This game and series are here for the taking.  It can be done before anyone realises it’s happening.

There is something to be said for being underestimated.

Pittsburgh’s defending Conn Smythe champion Evgeni Malkin takes a retaliatory penalty.  Selfish gesture.

Canadiens set up.  One pass.  Two.  Cross-ice skim is intercepted.  Plekanec’ attempt.

Canadiens have to exit and reset.

Hard-shooting Marc-Andre Bergeron and Markov are the first defensive pairing and Plekanec’ line is the first wave.

Cooke enters the Montreal zone.  One against three.  Shot is deflected up and into the high netting.  Faceoff in Montreal’s zone.

Sergei (Andrei Kostitsyn’s edgy younger brother and a third-line forward with top-six talent) is still out of the lineup, we are informed.

No changes from Wednesday, in fact.  Super.  Bowl.  I still feel jinxy about thinking or writing about the Caps in certain ways.

Thirty seconds and the Canadiens are regrouping again.  Gomez line.

Gionta weaves in, slowly, protecting the puck.  Leaves it on the boards for versatile Glen Metropolit.  Pens push it out.

One last segment.

Gomez to the point for Gorges.  Has trouble handling it but sends it in onside.  Puck goes to the slot.  No sticks reply.

Penguins break out.  Malkin down the right side.  He is burgled and Gionta will be called.

Tripping is the call.

Penguin power-play.  Gorges and Gill with the fleet Tom Pyatt and Plekanec.  The new pairing.  Fairly new.

One man on the diamond point; Gonchar.  And after some good puck movement along tight lines, Gonchar blurs the puck into the net.  Beautifully executed by Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh 1, Montreal 1

Follow-up faceoff is won by Pittsburgh.  But their entry is halted behind the Montreal net.

Just as quickly, Montreal is stopped.  Moore line followed the goal.

Pittsburgh’s post-goal personality is a bit different from Washington’s.  Or New York Islanders.  Pittsburgh is milder than the other two following a goal.  At least in the games I’ve seen them against Montreal.

Gonchar and his mates think everything is back to normal.  Whatever it is they think normal is.

Good.

Gionta, Moen and Gomez are on.

Pittsburgh entry.  Puck goes up into the stands off Gill’s stick.

Martin.  Mauve.  Tie and shirt, both.  Tie has electric caterpillars of blue besides.  Jacques Martin.  The defensive-minded coach of the Montreal Canadiens.  But he has an offensive bent as well.

Halak looks awkward making a low save.  Canadiens clear the rebound.

Other end.  Cammalleri comes up with it in the corner.  Tries a point pass but it’s intercepted.  Two players were in the lane.  Habs come up with it in the neutral zone but can’t retain it.

Moore line.

Moore chases a light dump in and comes up with it.  He seems surprised how easily he got it in the corner.

There will be more surprises, more differences from DC as this series progresses.  Will they be enough?

Because, prediction aside, there are a number of unknowns in this series.  More than in the previous.

Markov is down.

Gomez is on top of someone.

Moen and the sneering Mark Eaton are going to fight.  Gomez was on top of Matt Cooke.

Markov was wincing and in pain.  He is still down.  His helmet is off.  Trainer is on the ice.

Is this your NHL?

Cooke belongs somewhere else.  I thought you believed in getting tough on crime.  What about getting tough on crime.

Matt Cooke.  Unskilled labour.  And proud of it.  And with his defenders in the echelons.

Markov is assisted off the ice.  A trainer and a teammate.  It looks grievous.

Houde says it was a legit check.  We see the replay.  Markov hit the boards at an awkward angle.  The angle we are shown doesn’t indicate how devilish the blow may have been.

Crosby to Old Man Bill Guerin in the slot.  Misses the certain goal.

Fanned on it?

Pittsburgh power-play continues.

Pyatt picks up a puck on the boards.  Carries it up.  Sends it down.

Moore meets Staal as he enters.  Hip check.  Play moves down the boards.  Pass to slowboat Jordan Staal who is in the high slot.  Beats Halak.  High wrister.  Good shot.

Pittsburgh 2, Montreal 1

Metropolit is on with Cammalleri and Andrei K next.

AK down the right.  Slows.  Looks.  Slot pass.  Good spacing idea.  But intercepted.

No word about Markov yet.

Lapierre is on.

Penguins Crosby knocks down a Canadien.  Good hit.  Aggressive.

Just over five minutes left in the period.

Gomez enters on the left.  Se faufille.  Shot.  Gloved.  Stoppage.

The hitting has increased.  Crosby’s hit was on Gorges.  There was some robust follow-up hitting from both teams immediately.

Georges Laraque partners with an avant-garde grass-roots raw foods restaurant, Disney Crosby does Tim Horton’s commercials.

Stoppage after a Pouliot shot from the hash boards.

Moen is jawing as he goes off the ice.  Gomez takes his arm to ensure Moen waits til next time.  The talk continues.

Plekanec line.

Gonchar picks it up along the boards on the Pittsburgh side of the rink.  Turns, striding, up.  Interrupted in the neutral zone.

Now the lines change and Moore does some good board carry-work.  Small pass to the high circle.  Long harmless shot.

On the other end, Cooke sends a pass to Malkin in the slot.  Dangerous puck but Malkin can’t get a bead.

Pyatt to Kostitsyn in the mid-slot.  Kostitsyn can’t get enough on it.

Pens relaunch.  Clogged in the middle so they swerve right and send it in where it’s trapped in the corner to Halak’s left for two seconds, maybe three.

Action moves up and down the ice.  Pittsburgh is of a mind to be physical and expend their energies thusly.

Play continues as the Plekanec line hops on.

Coverage is not as tight as against Washington but it doesn’t have to be.  Pittsburgh is content to stay on the perimeter and on few occasions are they posted in the slot.

They are working another angle against Montreal’s well-designed and executed collapse defence of the previous three games.

Faceoff.  And a quick stoppage.

Adams leaves the ice and Cooke is back on.  He had four points in six games against Ottawa in the team’s previous series.

Under a minute and Moore observes the awkward Jordan Staal along the boards.  Puck is on the blue line.  Shot.  Trouble.  But Gorges, Plekanec and Gill are in their expected triangle and the Canadiens are able to move it out.

Short blurt goes to end the period.

Crowd is subdued.

Both coaches wait to listen to the PA announcements.  Summarizing penalties?

Shots are tied at 7.

First Intermission
Pittsburgh 2, Montreal 1

First thing, Markov.  Replay shows the check was legit.  Markov fell badly.  Check was not badly intended, either.

Ovie had ten points in seven games against Montreal.  But one difference from his play and Crosby’s is the aggression and physical leadership shown by the Pittsburgh captain.  This playoff has seen him evolve even further.  Recall his humiliation of Jason Spezza behind the Ottawa net.  (I find myself wondering just how many NHL characters are currently embattled.  Or beleaguered.  Or long-suffering.  Ever read the Horatio Alger tale?)

But Crosby has an icon, two countries, a league and two sets of media, maybe three (Pittsburgh, Anglo-Canadian, Franco-Canadian), behind him, exhorting, coaching, forgiving, grooming and anointing.  In the optics game, it’s an unfair advantage over the foreign-born Ovechkin who plays in football and hoop-mad Washington DC.  Hey, I know Cap fans are spry.  There just aren’t enough of them, is all.

Ovechkin could have been more aggressive against Montreal but wasn’t.  As he flies, so will many of his young eagles.

Ovie will be fine nonetheless.  Get that Russian coach over.

Yeah, I like Bruce Boudreau but he is a bit too old-school in his approach with the team.  Charismatic and amusing guy.  And one of those “shoots square” types.  But we know what that did for Toronto.  Now don’t we?

Francois Gagnon reviews some surprises of the playoffs thus far.  Some defender numbers: Tom Poti was +9 against Montreal.  San Jose’s Dan Boyle was +6 along with Brad Stuart of Detroit.

Philadelphia goalie Brian Boucher is at 0.940 this playoff.  Probably the best work of all goaltending units this series.  Yeah, including your buddy Halak and his triangle (one centre and two prepared d-men).

Ok, our buddy Halak.

Vancouver’s Henrik Sedin, Disney and Ovie are the finalists for the Hart.  Sedin has a few more points while Crosby and Ovetjkin are tied.  Ovetchkin.  Ovetskin.  How would you like to spell it?

The Hart.  There is nothing scientific (subjective vote from the press) about how these trophies are awarded and thus (my third “thus” – I hate the word thus, in fact) not worth commenting on.

Thus we go to commercial.

PK Subban is interviewed by Luc Gelinas.  Subban sounds like.  Uh.  Anyone I’ve heard before.

Second Period
Pittsburgh 2, Montreal 1

Subban’s goal was his first NHL goal.  Ever.

Early action is in Montreal ice.

Guerin works up the boards untouched.  Drop pass for Crosby.  In the corner.  Play is arrested.  Canadiens exit.  Andrei K cuts left.  Turns it over.  Habs are called for too many men on the ice.

Mauvais penalite dit Brunet.

Yup.

One man on the diamond tip again.  Gonchar.  This shot goes high.  Bounces back.  Trapped by the keeper.

Faceoff is outside the Montreal zone.

Pyatt wins it easily.  It’s just one faceoff but it looked impressive.  What else might Pyatt have in the toolbox?

As for Andrei, he’d better put his lunchpail away.

Penguins reset.

Malkin on the right.  Puck is moved about.  Shot.  Tink.  In.

High slot shot by Letang.  Crosby hit a man to take the puck away.  Got it to the blue line.  Another golden rule play.  In Mellon black.

Pittsburgh 3, Montreal 1

Houde says that Andrei is having a bad game.  Affreux.  Atrocious, one could say.

Moore line.  Early entry.  To Subban at the point.  Shot.  Wide.

Pens exit.  They go offside.

Houde says that the Canadiens have paid a dear price for the two penalties.  Two goals.

Plekanec line is chasing.

Long puck from Pittsburgh.

O’Byrne beats Crosby to it.  He, uh, had a head start.

But he used good positioning.

Faceoff to Fleury’s right.

Houde says that both Crosby and the crowd didn’t like the call.  They thought the Penguin got to it first.

You used to Pittsburgh being good, yet?  Remember that touch of blue?  Remember Greg Millen?  Rick Kehoe?  Yellow helmets?

Play continues in good form.  Penguins are skating with more intensity.  Canadiens aren’t up to the challenge.  Andrei K comes to mind.  But then I see him hustling on a back check.  He chases a puck into the corner but can’t take it from Letang.  Checks him.

Subban shows delirious acceleration as he exits down he left.  Doesn’t look for anyone til he’s over the Pittsburgh blue.  Can’t create a possession.

Pens now possess with a power-play personality.  Puck goes to the side boards.  Long wait.  A Pen finds it.  Canadiens are constricted and away from the puck.  A shot goes into legs.

Now the puck goes the other way.  Canadiens exert pressure.  Gap in the net.  Big one.  A player sails across.  A Pen is beaten.  The goalie is out of position.  The action slides across stickless.  Now it’s back in the crease.  And they jam.  Whistle.  Moore yells that it’s in.  Metropolit was jamming at it.  Houde says that the whistle went before it went it.

It looked as if it might have been a goal.  Commercial.

Crosby took a stick to the face from Moore earlier.  We are shown the replay.

There is no checking in Toronto for a goal.  Faceoff.

Puck goes out of play.

Replay shows Pouliot missed the open net.

Brunet says he likes what Moore did on the sequence, attacked the net.

Talbot carries it in on the left.  Malkin supports.  Cammalleri gets back to the corner.  Hamrlik and O’Byrne combine to move it out.  It’s up.  Plekanec has it going down the middle.  Both defenders are close enough.  Can’t do more than reach and reach some more.  The puck dribbles to a stop in front of Fleury.

Faceoff to Fleury’s left.

Plekanec wins it.  Puck leaves the zone with force from the faceoff win.  Canadiens have to regroup.

Long pass goes too far and the Pens curve to the puck and exit.

Puck dithering.  Montreal possession.

Subban sends a long puck high in a lob.  Too far.  Results in icing.

Gomez is covered as he closes to a puck that slithers though the slot.  Good pass.  Better coverage.

Now Gomez is retrieving a line change puck from Pittsburgh.  Leaves it for Gill.  Puck is moved up.  And now it goes too far.  Montreal is called for icing.

Malkin versus Gomez.  Neutral result.  Penguins are beating the Habs to the puck.

Talbot is called.  Hooking.

Plekanec line is the first wave.  Kostitsyn assists on winning the faceoff but the Canadiens have to exit.

Subban gets close to the net on the right side and shoots.  Crossbow angle.  Fleury gets his right pad on it.

The power-play is looking loose and laissez-faire.

Second wave nearly scores.  Gomez nearly backhands in an opportune pass and puck.  Voof.  Crowd starts chanting Fleury’s name.

Staal was shaken up on the previous segment.

Penalty ends and the Canadiens are looking unimaginative and possibly uninspired.  Certainly, they are fatigued from the recency of their seventh-game win.  Can they find something?  Who will do it?

Pittsburgh makes it look like a regular season power-play though it is five-on-five.

The leaders will have to do it.

Cammalleri carries it down the left side.  Result is a long possession.  Martin is making some adjustments to the lines.

Hard work is the result.  I feel as if I’m learning Martin’s timing on these recalibrations.

Hard work pays.

This time.

Cammalleri.  From Gomez.  Slot to the right of Fleury.  Bing, bang, uh. Bong.

Pittsburgh 3, Montreal 2

Pyatt is in right away.  Swoop and a shot.  Fleury makes the reaction save and covers up to his right and at the lip of the crease.

Gionta was on the recalibrated line as well.  Not sure if he left the ice just prior to the goal or not.

Canadiens are refocused.

Moore line is on.  Three and a half minutes.  Two shifts of determination and now some good forechecking.

Pouliot finally gives some support to Moore and it results in a shot on goal.  Fleury covers it up.  Brunet says Fleury seems nervous.

Hmm.

The Penguins don’t play like champions.  They are nervous.  They are careless and they wait for their big guns.  Washington is a much more prepossessed and dangerously arrogant team.

But Penguins keep working at their newfound second-period level of zest.

And Adams swoops in for a goal.

Pittsburgh 4, Montreal 2

Brunet says it was a bad change by Montreal and the replay confirms it as Adams came in untouched.

But a nice goal, nonetheless.

Rest of the period is not too eventful.

Shots on goal are in favour of Montreal.

Second Intermission
Pittsburgh 4, Montreal 2

Not much to say.  Crosby is interviewed by Gelinas.

Third Period
Pittsburgh 4, Montreal 2

Moen, Plekanec and Cammalleri are the opening trio.

Gomez, Pouliot and Gionta are next.

Houde expresses sympathy for Martin’s situation as AK is not performing up to snuff.

Entry on the left side and Pouliot is one stick up and a t-angle falling as he tries to make hockey magic.

Moments later Gionta is called for a delay of game.  Sent the puck too high out of play from his own zone.

Pyatt and Plekanec are the first kill pairing.  Plekanec wins the faceoff.  Gill takes it and banks it out.

Gonchar enters on the left but his pass is intercepted.  Next entry is an offside.

Faceoff outside Montreal ice.

Moore and Moen help kill the next segment and go off for Plekanec and Pyatt again.

Pens are in.  Malkin on the right side.  Crosby at the side.

To the blue.  Guerin is in the slot.

Shot.  Wide.

Pens continue

One-timer by Gonchar.  Halak gets low to stop it.

Crosby has it at the hash.  Cross-ice pass for a weak shot but a goal.

Beaten to his left.  Low.  Should have had it.

Goligoski gets the goal.

Pens are four out of four on the power-play.  Caps were one of 33 in the previous series.

Pittsburgh 5, Montreal 2

Sixteen minutes left.  It’s possible but unlikely as the team appears fatigued and disjointed.  Halak is also affected.

Stoppage after the subsequent faceoff.

Letang in on the right side.  Shot.  Rebound.  Slot chance.  Almost certain.  Halak is across.  Old batteries.

Gill puts it up to the hash and the puck is turned over immediately.  Pass right to the high slot onto a Pittsburgh stick.

It’s uglier.

Crosby line leaves the ice.

Price is in the game.

Crowd cheers.

Houde says that there is nothing to say against Halak.  Brunet says there is something to be said about the weakness in technique from Halak tonight.

Houde responds by saying that giving up four goals on five power-play chances means that the team needs to step up and address the indiscipline and help their goalie.

Discussion continues as the Penguins take control of the puck and the game.

Finally Hamrlik takes it up behind his net.

Entry.  Plekanec and Cammalleri work well to create two shots and a top of the zone long circle by Plekanec.  Fleury covers up on the second shot of two by the centreman.

Faceoff.

Hal Gill has 34 post-season blocked shots, we are told.

Montreal controls off the faceoff.

Long shot from the point by Plekanec results in his stick breaking.

Cooke enters for Pittsburgh.  Price is like a military swan.  Huge.  Breadth.  Grace.  Height and presence.  He covers far more net than Halak.  Yeah, that’s weird.  So.

Moore line is on.

Price swats a puck out of his crease.  A shot results soon afterward and he is in position.

Canadiens exit and are able to retain the puck in the neutral zone.  They enter.  Two passes along the blue line.

Turnover.

Pass up.  Malkin.  All alone.  He slows right down.  No defenders.  Just Price.  Shoots.  Light shot.  Finesse.  Goes wide to Price’s right.

Action continues.  Fowl and feather, scoot and stink.  Small rumble in the neutral zone.  Gomez is expressing his intolerance for Rupp.

They are separated.  Small crowd.

Gomez never backs down.  He’s not afraid of anyone.

Montreal goes to a power-play.  Martin is a small mountain of folded-arm hope as he issues some calm, tight directives.

Ten minutes.

Cammalleri, Plekanec and Gionta.  They control.

The extra man is not coming in either on offence or defence for Montreal.  Especially on offence.

Subban was too far over to pinch on this sequence but the lack of support is noticeable.

Next sequence sees Metropolit with Pouliot and Andrei K.

They work it around.  Pittsburgh is not sitting back.  Good work from Dupuis.

To the slot.  Andrei K golfs it.  Can’t get most of it.

Penalty ends with more vain passing on the trapezoid.

Stoppage soon afterward as Fleury, standing, scoops a lofter.

A chuckle from Brunet as the respondents say that Montreal will win four games this series.  Fifty-five percent.  Twenty-three say Montreal will win two.

Not one can soundly explain why.

Kunitz is called for slashing.  He sticked Lapierre.  Several times.

Thugs agree in the penalty box.

Subban up top.  Turns.  Full three-sixty.  Pass and a shot.  Huge brack sound.  Too high.

Canadiens exit and re-enter.

Puck movement.  Subban goes low.  Leaves it.  Is too slow returning to the blue line.  Puck moves low and then high and then across.  Shot.  Goal.  Gionta.  Top of the circle.

Seven minutes left.

Pittsburgh 5, Montreal 3

Houde says that win or lose, it’s a long series and that building momentum is important.

Price is almost alarmingly calm. Almost manic in his calm.  Almost mountainous in his calm.  He watches slowly and deliberately as the puck rounds the boards behind him.

Canadiens rush.  Lapierre surprises Fleury with a shot.

Return rush sees Crosby skate past the end line and then send a puck right onto Moore’s stick in the high slot.

Action stays on the perimeters for the next several seconds.

Now Pittsburgh slows it down and gets control.  To the point.  Orpik shoots.  Price extends a pad.

Only five minutes left as Gomez labours up the left side.  Puck is left for Pittsburgh as the lines change.  Valuable time is being stolen by Pittsburgh.

And now Gill takes a penalty.  Frustration on his face.  Disappointment.  And a few days’ growth.

Fedotenko is called as well.  Diving.

Four-on-four.

Four minutes left.  Approx.

Malkin and Bergeron press up against the boards.  Canadiens come up with.  Supported exit.

Gionta sends Gomez in on the left after some puck dithering.

To the blue line.  Fired.  Stopped by Fleury.

Subban carries it up.

To Gionta on the left.  High shot.  Distance.  Gloved.  Play is stopped.

Moore is asked to leave the faceoff circle.  Pouliot wins it.  To the point.  Across.  Shot.  Nope.

Canadiens are chased out and retrieve.

Moore sends it in on the right but it’s intercepted.

Two and a half minutes.

Still time for two goals.

Hamrlik carries it out.  Ginger pass placement to Plekanec in the neutral zone.  Puck goes out of play after Plekanec can’t control the disc.

Ninety seconds left.  Price leaves.  Gionta shoots.  Goes up off the netting.

Faceoff to Fleury’s left.

Timeout is called by Montreal.  Montreal assistant coach Kirk Muller talks it over with the team.

Montreal has been Norton to Pittsburgh’s Ali.  Enough to respond but not enough to take command.

Montreal controls for about eight seconds.  Puck escapes.  Two-on-one.  Pass across to Guerin.  Alone.  Empty net.

Pittsburgh 6, Montreal 3

Lotta hockey left.  Lotta hockey.  I mean in the series of course.  Just forty-nine seconds left in this one.

Steal one and get home.

Or something.

Moore line follows.

Gill chases the puck back.  Backhander up for O’Byrne.  Plugged.  It’s back to Gill.  He bangs it the other way now.

Action is back and then forth.  Crowd crests.  Train horn goes.

Pittsburgh head coach Dan Bylsma pats an assistant on the back.

Fleury is congratulated.

Black hides sweat better than white.

Malkin leaves the ice with his oversized soldier visor and we hear Gaston Therrien say that yes he is surprised but, moreso, disappointed.

Pittsburgh 6
Montreal 3

Pittsburgh Penguins lead Montreal Canadiens 1-0 in the best-of-seven series.  Next game is on Sunday at 1:00PM EST.  Sur vos (nos, leurs) ondes.

HDS Stars: Sidney Crosby, PK Subban, Bill Guerin
RDS Stars: Kristopher Letang, Sidney Crosby, PK Subban

This has to be the most homer first star selection I’ve ever seen from RDS.  First star?  How about seventh?  Now they interview him.  Luc Gelinas hears about north-south and east-west from the defenceman.

After a commercial, Joel rightfully roasts Andrei K.  Horrible in this game.  Terrible in the last game, says the observant video expert.  Fair enough.

During L’Antechambre Bob Hartley says “Les Russes sont fameux pour les revirements.”  Est-ce que c’est un chose juste a dire?  De mon avis, les jouers de Canada son plus fameux pour les revirements.  Regard les chiffres.  Si’il vous plait.

Related posts:

1. Montreal Canadiens vs. Pittsburgh Penguins (Gm 6) (Delayed Edition)
2. Montreal Canadiens vs. Pittsburgh Penguins (GM 7)
3. Montreal Canadiens vs. Pittsburgh Penguins (Gm 5)
4. Montreal Canadiens vs. Pittsburgh Penguins (Gm 4)
5. Montreal Canadiens vs. Pittsburgh Penguins (Gm 3)
6. Montreal Canadiens vs. Pittsburgh Penguins (Gm 2)