My Interview on XM Radio before the Game, with Jim "Boomer" Gordon, on NHL Home Ice 204:



Eric Engels Faceoff 10-05-12
****

There was something in the air tonight. Something that swept in with the Montreal Canadiens, and blew out of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Ten seconds into the hockey game, Crosby held his breath in the penalty box, after starting the Penguins off with an undisciplined play that would characterize their struggle through the next 59:50 of hockey in game 7.

Matt Cooke left the door ajar, and before he had a chance to join his captain in the box, Brian Gionta kicked it open by deflecting the puck through Marc-Andre Fleury, just 32-seconds into the hockey game.

The Canadiens rampaged through the first ten minutes with stifling neutral zone presence and a determination with every pass, check, zone clearance, shot, blocked shot and save, before Dominic Moore cashed in on furious momentum created by linemates Maxim Lapierre and Tom Pyatt, at 14:23 of the first period.

The Canadiens did more than survive the first period; they won it outright. For the first time in this series, the Penguins were truly rattled, if not stunned.

At 3:32 of the second period, Mike Cammalleri not only finished one of the nicest passing plays of the Canadiens' season, but he put an end to a lifetime of hockey at Mellon Arena. His snapshot, the one that notched him his 12th goal of these playoffs, ended a champion's repeat run.

Sergei Gonchar's lackadaisical effort on Travis Moen, as the Canadiens penalty killer put the nail in Fleury's coffin, putting the Canadiens up 4-0, was a clear sign that this team of destiny would move on to where no Montreal team has been since the Stanley Cup was last sipped from by a Canadien's lips.

The Penguins instantaneously knew what had eluded them, and got a bounce off official Dan O'Halloran's skate for Chris Kunitz to bury. They rode the crowd to another goal with 3:30 to play in the second period; a desperate tip off Jordan Staal's stick.

But in a game where the Canadiens had managed 4 goals before the end of two periods, Jaroslav Halak typically became their saving grace from that point forward. With Mike Cammalleri and Tyler Kennedy off for roughing minors, and the teams skating at 4-on-4, Josh Gorges sent Pascal Dupuis sprawling with a crosscheck, leaving the Canadiens down a man, just ten seconds from escaping the period with a 2-goal lead.

The saves that Halak made, as Pittsburgh's powerplay bled into the third period, were other worldly. The most crucial juncture of the hockey game was Halak's shining moment, and the effort to kill off what would have surely killed them was one of six heroic ones on the night.

The Canadiens took five of the next six penalties after getting the first two calls of the game, and players like Tom Pyatt, Tomas Plekanec, Maxim Lapierre, Travis Moen, Scott Gomez, Brian Gionta, even Mike Cammalleri, Hal Gill, Josh Gorges, Roman Hamrlik, Jaroslav Spacek and P.K. Subban (all of Montreal's penalty killers) emphatically stamped the best game this team has played in this incredibly miraculous playoff run.

No luck could equal the effort this team put in to win this game, no matter the shot count indicating a near 2-to-1 advantage (39-20 for Pittsburgh). The Canadiens reeled in a game they never trailed in with sound, disciplined and brutally frustrating hockey. The Canadiens won every battle to every loose puck. The Canadiens blocked 26 shots to the Penguins' 3. The Canadiens didn't register a single giveaway to Pittsburgh's 14. The Canadiens scored on two of their four powerplays. The Canadiens got the best out of every single player in uniform; whether it was Mathieu Darche and Benoit Pouliot, who each played less than 3:00, or Mike Cammalleri, or Brian Gionta who scored his 6th and 7th goals of these playoffs.

Jacques Martin credited his support-staff after the game; Kirk Muller who's had as much success with the Canadiens special teams these playoffs as he enjoyed as a Stanley Cup winning player, Perry Pearn who has managed a depleted blueline that shut down the best players in the world through two rounds, and Pierre Groulx who shares some credit for the virtuoso performance Jaroslav Halak has entertained the hockey world with this season. But Jacques Martin deserves all the credit that few in this town would've believed he'd earn in this post-season. He did a masterful job orchestrating two of the most improbable playoff upsets in the history of the game, in back-to-back series' no less.

The honking of horns, and elated cries of passion of hundreds of thousands permeate the air in Montreal tonight. Breathe it in! This team has earned everything it's achieved thus far, and the best is yet to come.

*************

My Interview on XM Radio before the Game, with Jim "Boomer" Gordon, on NHL Home Ice 204:



Eric Engels Faceoff 10-05-12

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