Montreal Canadiens at Pittsburgh Penguins
The Montreal Canadiens got a huge lift from the crowd in a must-win Game 6 at the Bell Centre Monday night. The 21,000 screaming fans stood and waved towels throughout the game, including for an entire commercial break, and were rewarded with a 4-3 Canadiens victory, forcing a Game 7 at Mellon Arena.
“When it gets loud, you can’t hear your teammates out there, but you’ve got to keep your composure,” Penguins forward Craig Adams told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “Those are the momentum swings that happen in every game.”
But even more problematic for the Pens has been the impressive performance of diminutive Habs forward Michael Cammalleri, who notched his 10th and 11th goals of the playoffs Monday night. After going scoreless in the last nine games of the regular season, Cammalleri found his stride at exactly the right time.
“I guess I saved some for the playoffs”, Cammalleri told the Canadian Press. “When (the puck) is going in, everything goes in, and when it doesn’t, nothing does. That’s how it goes for goal-scorers.”
Sidney Crosby may have ended his four-year scoring drought in Montreal by netting Pittsburgh’s first goal of the night, but the Penguins’ young star has been well contained by the Habs in this series. Crosby even showed some signs of frustration when he delivered a post-game cross-check to Tomas Plekanec after Monday’s tilt.
Expect the Habs defense to tighten up even more on the Penguins’ forwards, especially if defensemen Hal Gill and Andrei Markov, both listed as questionable for Wednesday’s Game 7, are back in the lineup.
Pick: Canadiens
Boston Bruins at Philadelphia Flyers
The Philadelphia Flyers aren’t going away. After falling behind 3-0 in their series against the Boston Bruins, most thought the Flyers were done. But they earned a 5-4 overtime win in Game 4 which gave them confidence enough to rout the Bruins 4-0 in Game 5 Monday night.
Philadelphia got a huge scare Monday when goalie Brian Boucher went down with injuries to both his knees in the second period. Michael Leighton, who hadn’t played since suffering a high ankle sprain March 16, took over in net with the Flyers clinging to a 1-0 lead. He made 14 saves to preserve the shutout.
“The first few minutes, I was pretty nervous”, Leighton told the Philadelphia Daily News. “You’re one mistake away from tying it up and it’s a different ball game. But we scored some goals and played well defensively… and made things easier.”
The Flyers have dealt with injuries throughout the regular season and the playoffs. But every time one player goes down another one steps up.
“The path that we’ve taken is not the ideal path, but it is our path,” head coach Peter Laviolette told the Philadelphia Daily News. “Guys have answered the bell every step of the way. We’re still here.”
Expect them to answer the bell once again in front of an appreciative home crowd Wednesday night.
Pick: Flyers