CANADIENS
Montreal

2-1

SENATORS
Ottawa

Game Report

After the game, the overtime hero said, “Ottawa, I thought, played an unbelievable game, and good for us to stick with it and find a way to win.”  Just down the hall in the Ottawa dressing room,  Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson felt that his team dictated play and wanted the win more than the Canadiens did.  “We played solid throughout the game,” said Karlsson, “We couldn’t put the puck in the net, and that was the only thing that was wrong with us.”

The Senators indeed played the game that they drew up on the board.  Ottawa dominated the first period getting out to a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes. The Senators controlled the faceoff circle, effectively killed off six Canadiens power-plays including one in the last four minutes of regulation and one in overtime, and outhit their opponents 61-36.

Erik Karlsson felt that the only thing they didn’t do well was beat Carey Price.  And that, like most games, had everything to do with Carey Price. The Canadiens netminder didn’t make as many saves as his counterpart, but make no mistake, Price was the better goaltender, as he has been throughout this series.

Price held his team close when they were being dominated by the Senators. And when the game mattered in overtime, Price made two outstanding saves on Kyle Turris and Mark Stone, the Senators top two forwards in the regular season.  And Ottawa’s Craig Anderson allowed the tying and winning goals to the Canadiens fourth line right-winger.

That’s not to diminish Weise’s role in the win but he had been demoted from the third line in the third period because he was not making much of a contribution even in such a physical game.  And the fourth line of Torrey Mitchell, Brandon Prust and Brian Flynn had been worse. Michel Therrien said that his line shuffle was to “change the rhythm of the game.” It worked and Weise struck for two goals becoming the most visible hero of the night.

Weise is now the Habs leading goal scorer in the series. Torrey Mitchell and Brian Flynn have the most points by forwards with three each.  Brandon Prust isn’t far behind with two points.

With the Canadiens top-6 having yet to shoulder the offensive load and with the special teams both near the bottom of the league in terms of playoff efficiency, how does this team hold a commanding lead in the series?  Carey Price.

Coming into the series, the goaltending focus was on Andrew Hammond, the Cinderella goaltender with the 20-1-2 record. In game 3, the discussion was all about whether Craig Anderson could return to form. But it has been the forgotten man, Price, who has been quietly controlling the series.

As Weise correctly said post-game, “[Carey Price] is the difference every night.” Setting aside the unfortunate own-goal in Game 1, Price has given up just two even-strength goals in the series. On Sunday night, Clarke MacArthur converted a 2-on-1 after P.K. Subban chased a hit near the midway mark of the first period. Price shut the down after that.

▲     Carey Price, Alexei Emelin, Dale Weise, Devante Smith-Pelly, Tomas Plekanec

▼     Tom Gilbert, Nathan Beaulieu, Alex Galchenyuk, Brian Flynn, Power-play (now 1-for-13)

1.  Dale Weise  MTL
2.  Erik Karlsson  OTT
3.  Craig Anderson  OTT

• “I just wanted to make some changes to change the rhythm on Lars Eller’s line and (Torrey) Mitchell’s line. Seems like Dale Weise scores some big goals as he showed us in the playoffs last year.”

Dale Weise

• “I thought I had some good chances early in the series and just couldn’t put them in; a couple of 2-on-1’s and hit posts. I don’t know what it is. Just every game gets so intense, you’re so focused, I don’t know.”
• “Ottawa, I thought, played an unbelievable game, and good for us to stick with it and find a way to win.”
• “This one is probably number one for me, though. My overtime goal last year in Tampa was pretty special for me, but I just think the importance of this game in the series right now is as big as it gets. Getting that one late and then getting the winner is big. That feels pretty good.”
• “These are the ones you’re scoring when you’re playing street hockey. You’re not scoring a regular season goal in the 40th game of the year. You’re scoring the OT winner in the Stanley Cup Playoffs to win the game. I’ve replayed that moment a couple of times on my street growing up.”
• “[Carey Price] is the difference every night.”

P.K. Subban

• “[Dale Weise] is a beauty. Let’s leave it at that. I love him. There’s guys that have made careers on that, just finding a way to get it done, and listen, he’s found a way.”
• “The playoffs are about different guys stepping up. He stepped up in the past. He stepped up this year so far. He deserves all the attention he is getting. I’d rather take players that score big goals at the right time than score in the games that don’t mean anything.”

Max Pacioretty

• “[Dale Weise] is probably the most liked guy in the room. That’s translated on the ice. The guys are so happy for him when he has success. He gives it his all every shift. I’m so happy for him.”
• “It’s definitely a great feeling. Anderson played such a strong game. It was tough to imagine anything getting by him. We had a lot of shots, but I think they didn’t give up too many good chances. At the end of the day, it’s so nice to get the win.”

Carey Price

• “They definitely came out hard. They were a desperate team. Playing their first game at home in the playoffs, they played an excellent first period. I thought we responded the right way in the second and the third, though.”

Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson

• “We played solid throughout the game. They did a good job and they made it hard on us. We couldn’t put the puck in the net, and that was the only thing that was wrong with us. We came out, we dictated and we showed that we wanted to win the game more than they did.”

Senators goalie Craig Anderson

• “Just a perfect shot. Twelve inches off the ice, low blocker, post and in. It’s one of those things where you can’t really play it different. He beat me with a great shot.”

Senators coach Dave Cameron

• “Day off tomorrow. Gotta win a game.”
• “The refereeing wasn’t the reason we lost the game.”