Jaroslav Halak stole Game 6 for the Montreal Canadiens on Monday night.
At home in front of their raucous fans at the Bell Centre, the Canadiens got two first-period goals from Mike Cammalleri and hung on to beat the Washington Capitals 4–1.
Halak stopped 53 of 54 shots and was the first star of the game by a country mile.
“Sometimes goalies get into a zone where nothing is going to beat them. And he [Halak] was in the zone tonight,” said Washington coach Bruce Boudreau.
“It was extraordinary what he [Halak] did tonight,” said Montreal’s fourth-line center Maxim Lapierre.
“That’s the best performance by a goalie that I’ve ever been part of,” said Montreal defenseman Josh Gorges. “He was spectacular, he won the game for us.”
Halak, humble as ever, pointed to the lead he was given to work with, “We got ahead in the game like last game. That was huge for us.”
After stealing Game 5 in Washington last Friday, the Canadiens are more than alive and kicking now with Game 7 coming up Wednesday in Washington.
What a change of fortune for the No. 8 seed Montreal Canadiens who had lost their last six playoff games at the Bell Centre. After losing games 3 and 4, they had a mountain to climb, down 3–1 to the Capitals.
But with an airtight defense and Patrick Roy-like goaltending, the Habs have a real belief that they can do the unthinkable—beat the mighty Washington Capitals, the best team in the NHL.
The recipe for success was the same one used in Game 5—get up two quick goals and then hang on for dear life.
Hanging on for dear life was made possible by an awesome penalty kill. The Caps went 0–6 with the man advantage. The league’s best power play in the regular season is now 1–30 in the series through six games.
The Caps had 5-on-4, 5-on-3, and 4-on-3 power plays but they could not get it by Halak.
Eric Fehr broke up the shutout with less than five minutes to go but that would be all Washington would get. No meltdown like in Game 2 for Montreal this time.
Lapierre was almost the goat for the Habs but his third-period goal gave the Habs some breathing room.
Guilty of two diving penalties, Lapierre almost cost his team dearly. But early in the third period, he came down the right wing and ripped a slap shot past Semyon Varlamov’s glove hand.
“I spoke to Kirk Muller [assistant coach] this morning. He told me to use my shot. Maybe I got a bit lucky, but it went in,” said Lapierre.
With Boston’s 4–2 series victory over Buffalo, the Montreal–Washington series is the only one to go seven games in the Eastern Conference. It was thought to be the most clear-cut of all the matchups.
At home in front of their raucous fans at the Bell Centre, the Canadiens got two first-period goals from Mike Cammalleri and hung on to beat the Washington Capitals 4–1.
Halak stopped 53 of 54 shots and was the first star of the game by a country mile.
“Sometimes goalies get into a zone where nothing is going to beat them. And he [Halak] was in the zone tonight,” said Washington coach Bruce Boudreau.
“It was extraordinary what he [Halak] did tonight,” said Montreal’s fourth-line center Maxim Lapierre.
“That’s the best performance by a goalie that I’ve ever been part of,” said Montreal defenseman Josh Gorges. “He was spectacular, he won the game for us.”
Halak, humble as ever, pointed to the lead he was given to work with, “We got ahead in the game like last game. That was huge for us.”
After stealing Game 5 in Washington last Friday, the Canadiens are more than alive and kicking now with Game 7 coming up Wednesday in Washington.
What a change of fortune for the No. 8 seed Montreal Canadiens who had lost their last six playoff games at the Bell Centre. After losing games 3 and 4, they had a mountain to climb, down 3–1 to the Capitals.
But with an airtight defense and Patrick Roy-like goaltending, the Habs have a real belief that they can do the unthinkable—beat the mighty Washington Capitals, the best team in the NHL.
The recipe for success was the same one used in Game 5—get up two quick goals and then hang on for dear life.
Hanging on for dear life was made possible by an awesome penalty kill. The Caps went 0–6 with the man advantage. The league’s best power play in the regular season is now 1–30 in the series through six games.
The Caps had 5-on-4, 5-on-3, and 4-on-3 power plays but they could not get it by Halak.
Eric Fehr broke up the shutout with less than five minutes to go but that would be all Washington would get. No meltdown like in Game 2 for Montreal this time.
Ups and Downs
Lapierre was almost the goat for the Habs but his third-period goal gave the Habs some breathing room.
Guilty of two diving penalties, Lapierre almost cost his team dearly. But early in the third period, he came down the right wing and ripped a slap shot past Semyon Varlamov’s glove hand.
“I spoke to Kirk Muller [assistant coach] this morning. He told me to use my shot. Maybe I got a bit lucky, but it went in,” said Lapierre.
With Boston’s 4–2 series victory over Buffalo, the Montreal–Washington series is the only one to go seven games in the Eastern Conference. It was thought to be the most clear-cut of all the matchups.
