Habs News: Montreal Canadiens, Carey Price, Dominique Ducharme, Jake Evans

ROCKET SPORTS MEDIA | LAVAL, QC. — The series was tied at one, when the Canadiens and Maple Leafs squared off for two games at the Bell Centre. On Monday, Morgan Rielly scored the game-winning goal in 2-1 victory.

“I thought we generated more scoring chances, especially in the third period. We want to play with that kind of rhythm. We weren’t able to do that for 60 minutes,” Dominique Ducharme said.

The following night, former Hab Alex Galchenyuk scored once and added two assists as Toronto blanked Montreal 4-0. “We just need to forget about this one quickly. It’s not over yet. I feel like we have a good atmosphere in the locker room. Everybody knows that it’s not over. We’re going to work hard next game,” Joel Armia said.

On Thursday, the Maple Leafs closed a three-goal deficit to send the match into overtime, where Cole Caufield setup Nick Suzuki for the winning goal in a 4-3 victory.

#Habs Cole Caufield intercepts Galchenyuk's pass and leads to Nick Suzuki OT goal vs #Leafs

Assists: Caufield@AllHabs @RocketSports #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/fEhXjYrF7Z

— Chris G (@ChrisHabs360) May 28, 2021

“I thought we showed a lot of heart. We feel like we can come back in this series, especially going back to the Bell Centre for Game 6,” Suzuki said. He became the eighth player in franchise history to score in the opening minute of overtime in the playoffs.

On Saturday, the Canadiens lost a two-goal lead in the third period, and Jesperi Kotkaniemi forced a game seven with the overtime goal for 3-2 win.

#Habs Jesperi Kotkaniemi scores the OT winner vs #Leafs

Assists: Byron@AllHabs @RocketSports #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/n7yS5wB5ek

— Chris G (@ChrisHabs360) May 30, 2021

Montreal became the first team in NHL history to surrender multi-goal third period leads in consecutive games, and win each of them.  “There’s no quit in this group. Even though we’ve given up leads in the last couple of games, we grinded it out,” Shea Weber said.

The Seventh Player

Saturday’s overtime thriller was played in front of 2,500 fans inside the Bell Centre. It was the first NHL game in Canada in front of spectators since the 2019-20 regular season was paused.

“We could hear them before the game and going out for warmups. I had chills again. Honestly, it was unbelievable. It felt like a lot more than 2,500 people. It was amazing. I can’t imagine what 20,000 people would be like right now because that was electric for that amount,” said the captain.

As it was the case before the pandemic, the fans inside the arena belted out the Canadian anthem with organist’s Diane Bibeau assistance. During the match, we heard the fans serenade Jack Campbell, and boo Auston Matthews, while chanting Carey for his performance and cheering for the home team.

The fans raised the roof when Kotkaniemi netted the winner. “Seeing the people out there with the towels, we’ve been waiting for that the whole year. The new guys were talking about that. It was really special just to see people out there,” said the forward.

“It was an unbelievable experience. It’s been obviously awhile since we had fans, and a lot of us were talking after the game, it felt like there was a full building in there, how loud it was. I think it really gave us that extra jump especially to start,” Evans said after his first career playoff game inside the Bell Centre.

“For everyone that had the opportunity to come tonight, we’re very grateful, and definitely helped us get the win,” said an appreciative Tyler Toffoli.

The Maple Leafs wanted to replicate the experience for their players for game seven, however the provincial government rejected their proposal to allow fully-vaccinated healthcare workers to attend.

Price Leading the Way

Carey Price has been the team’s most consistent player of the series. He gave his teammates a chance to win in every one of the six games.

“Without him, we wouldn’t be here now, and he saved my ass more than once today. I’m really thankful for him, and everyone can see he’s carrying our team, making us big saves,” Kotkaniemi said after game six.

“He’s unbelievable. You see it in practice, he’s so hard to score on. In games, he brings that calming presence. You know he’s going to be the wall back there, be a rock back there for you. Not even just how he plays, but off the ice he brings just so much to this team, and helps us out so much, and he’s just been so good so far,” Evans added.

Following game four, Price expressed confidence towards his teammates after they scored a total of four times since the start of the series. Contrary to fans, he wasn’t frustrated with their lack of production.

“Carey is someone that’s calm, that doesn’t talk for nothing,” said the coach. “He’s not the most vocal guy, but when he talks it’s well thought out, and it has an impact.”

Saturday’s win was Price’s ninth in 15 career elimination matches, ranking him first in franchise history.

“When he’s on and settling things down, I think it helps the group as a whole. Obviously, you got that backbone, and he just keeps giving you chances,” the captain said.

Evans Returns to Lineup

Jake Evans returned to the lineup on Saturday after missing the last four games due to injury. Ducharme slotted Evans to the left of Philip Danault and Brendan Gallagher, bumping veteran Tomas Tatar to the press box. He had a career high 23:05 of ice time, and was a key part in blanking Toronto’s power play four times.

“The way he skates, the way he manages situations he’s gaining maturity in his game. He plays hard, he can do a little bit of everything, and he does it well,” Ducharme said.

“I know I’m not the most skilled guy and I don’t have a great one-timer. I know I probably can’t pull a toe-drag off very often, so for me it’s just about knowing what I can do to have success and how I can help the team. It’s using my speed and just playing hard and playing that gritty way that can frustrate teams and cause them to make poor plays and then try to capitalize. It’s just knowing what brings you success. That’s helped me out a lot lately,” Evans explained his recent success.

Ready for Game 7

There isn’t many things about professional sports than a game seven, where winner takes all. The momentum in this series is now in Montreal’s favour. The pressure is on the Maple Leafs that were heavily favoured to win this series. Toronto has now lost seven consecutive close-out games across five different series since 2013.

It will be important for Montreal to have a good start to the game, and scoring the first goal will deflate Toronto’s confidence.

“The most fun you’re ever going to have playing hockey is a game seven. The key is you go in and play loose. It’s a high-pressure situation. Guys tend to get tight. It’s about staying loose, playing the game and enjoying it,” Ben Chiarot said on Sunday.

It’s for these type of situations that Marc Bergevin added Stanley Cup winners to the roster. Eric Staal, Joel Edmundson, and Tyler Toffoli have extensive game-seven experience on their resume. Toffoli was with the Kings in 2014 when they erased a 3-0 series deficit to beat the Sharks in seven games.

Corey Perry, Staal, and Weber addressed their teammates during a players meeting ahead of game five. “Everything has been said. You just go out and now you just have to play hockey,” Perry said on Saturday.

Ducharme feels that his coaching experience in the juniors helps him prepare for Monday’s deciding match. He was in charge behind the bench of the Halifax Mooseheads in the QMJHL, when they won four straight games after trailing 3-0 against the Quebec Remparts coached by Patrick Roy in 2012.

“No matter the level, it’s a group of 20 players that are pushing the same direction to realize something that many believe is impossible,” said the coach.

Monday’s winner faces the Jets starting on Wednesday.

NHL has announced round 2 schedule.

Here’s Habs schedule if they advance to face Jets. @AllHabs @RocketSports #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/0ml0EsqcNX

— Chris G (@ChrisHabs360) May 30, 2021

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