Monday, May 10, 2010

Habs & Pens Going to Game Seven

An incredible game in Montreal, as the Canadiens put together another great effort to force a Game Seven against the Penguins with a huge 4-3 win.  The energy was up at both ends of the ice, not to mention some of the neutral zone play, and it really did go down to the wire, as the Penguins tried to comeback from a 4-2 deficit late, managed to draw one back and it finished with such a flurry of chances around Jaroslav Halak, but the Slovakian goalkeeper stood tall, making 34 saves for the victory.

Game Seven will get a nice preview in a couple days, but it will definitely go on Wednesday night, as both teams have an equal chance of making it through to the Conference Finals.  I wouldn't say that momentum has been a key element in this series, so going into the deciding match, I would say is a moot point.

Having a big night in the 4-3 win was Mike Cammalleri, Andrei Kostitsyn and Jaroslav Halak, who each finished with a couple of points each.  Cammalleri had a pair of goals, Kostitsyn a pair of assists and Halak go the win.  That would have been a good result for a team that had all three of those Habs, but none were taken at all, so all the points disappear into nothingness.  For the Penguins, Sidney Crosby and Sergei Gonchar had a pair of points each and those points were picked up by a number of teams, but since they lost, the won't be getting a picture pasted on this post.

So, after six games in the series, Marc-Andre Fleury still leads the series in pool scoring with 8 points, thanks to that shutout in Game Three.  Mike Cammalleri, Brian Gionta and Sergei Gonchar are not very far behind with 7 points, while Jaroslav Halak has 6 points.

Well, there was some good news and some bad news in the Montreal line-up on Monday night, as Jaroslav Spacek made his glorious return to the Canadiens' line-up, scoring a goal in the win. Unfortunately, one of the top shutdown defenders on the team, non-pool defenseman, Hal Gill, was not in the line-up, unable to go because of a lower-body injury. He will remain day-to-day and you know that the Canadiens are hoping and praying for his return.

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