*Photo from CTV News Montreal*
Montreal wins series 4-2
Celebrate Montreal, you've earned it. The great cinderella story of the playoffs is going to the Stanley cup final. Cole Caufield scored, Artturi Lehkonen scored the winning goal, and the Montreal Canadiens defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 3-2 in overtime on Thursday night.
With the win, the Canadiens have clinched their first Stanley cup finals appearance since 1993, when they won their 24th Stanley cup. They are also the last Canadian hockey team to win the Stanley Cup, with that drought now being 28 years long. They are also the first Canadian team to even make the cup finals since 2011, when the Vancouver Canucks were defeated by the Boston Bruins in 7 games.
Canadiens center Phillip Danault said of moving on to the cup finals that "It's special. I had a feeling something big was going to happen today. It's amazing. I'm speechless. It's tough to process everything that's happened. I'm going to need some time to think about it. It's incredible. I'm really proud of the guys. We played very good hockey, but we want more. We want to win. We didn't do all of this for nothing. We're hungry. These are the best times of our lives."
Shea Weber got the Canadiens going, scoring his first goal of the playoffs on the power play 14:06 into the game, making it a 1-0 Canadiens lead. They took a 2-1 lead 9:36 into the second period, when Caufield scored his 4th goal of the playoffs. Lehkonen then scored on a breakaway 1:39 into overtime, sending Montreal into bedlam.
Carey Price once again put up stellar numbers for the Canadiens, and made all the big saves when they needed him too. Price saved 37 of 39 shots across regulation and OT, totaling a .949 save percentage. Price is a big reason that Montreal will get the chance to win their 25th Stanley cup, the most of any NHL team.
Acting Canadiens coach Luke Richardson said "I know every team says the same thing, but these guys are a special group and a really good mix. It's hard to put into words how proud we are of them, but they deserve it, and they're not done yet. They still have fire in their eyes. They're already talking about it. We are shifting our focus right away. We'll step away, take some rest, come back on Saturday and do a little work, and get right back at it on Sunday. We're looking forward to the challenge."
Reilly Smith got the scoring started for the Golden Knights, scoring 48 seconds after Weber scored for Montreal, tying the game at 1-1 pretty quickly. They tied it 2-2 early on in the 3rd period, when Alec Martinez scored his 4th goal of the playoffs 1:08 into the 3rd.
Vegas went back to Robin Lehner with their season on the line, and, despite losing, Lehner put up a valiant effort, saving 29 of 32 shots, for a .906 save percentage. Lehner was good, but, unfortunately, not as good as Price on the other side of the ice, which is why Vegas is going home.
Vegas coach Pete Deboer said "When you get to this point, the teams that win find another level. They don't sag. We didn't find another level, and they did. I thought they were opportunistic. They owned the key moments of the series. When they got a chance, they stuck it in the net. When they needed a big save, they got a big save. They won the overtime battle. They won the special-teams battle. If you're losing those areas of the game, you're putting yourself in a tough spot."
Game 1 of the Stanley cup finals is on Monday night, where Montreal awaits the winner of game 7 between the Islanders and Lightning tonight.
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