Earlier tonight in Montreal, it was win or go home for the Canadiens as they were facing elimination for the third time in the Playoffs (Habs won Game 6 & 7 Vs Bruins to advance to the current round). Less than a minute in, Kreider tripped Subban and the Habs went on their first powerplay of the night. Markov played the puck to Subban and his one-timer was deflected past Lundquist by Alex Galchenyuk to make it 1-0 MTL at the 1:48 mark of the first. A few minutes later, the Rangers came in on a 2 on 1 and Haglin received the puck at the side of the net and was robbed by the knob of Tokarski's stick. At the 10 minute mark of the period, Stephan's point shot was deflected off the stick of Beaulieu and in to tie the game. On the next shift, Galchenyuk played the puck to Gionta in the neutral zone and he tipped the puck to Plekanec and he skated into the offensive zone and fired a shot under the glove of Lundquist to make it 2-1 Montreal. The shots were 12-10 Montreal in the first.
3 minutes into the second, Gallagher played the puck to Pacioretty on the right wing and he fired a shot into the back of the net to extend the Habs lead. 3 minutes later, Eller centred the puck to Bourque and he scored! 4-1! Lundquist gave up 4 goals on 19 shots and that was it for him as in came Talbot.Past the halfway point of the second, Nash threw the puck to the net and it deflected off the stick of Gorges and in to cut the lead to 2. That was the Rangers first shot of the second. Stephan cut the lead to one, shortly after. Than at the 13 minute mark of the period, Plekanec took a diving penalty. On the Rangers powerplay, McDonaugh played the puck to Kreider in front and he had an empty net and scored. Tie game! 1 minute later, Bourque had the puck in the slot and he ripped a shot past Talbot to give the Canadiens the 5-4 lead! The Habs dominated the second for the most part, allowing just 3 scoring chances and unfortunately for them, the Rangers scored on all three chances. But the good news is, they had a 5-4 lead after 2. The shots were 12-6 Montreal in the second.
6 minutes into the third, Weiss played the puck to Bourque in the slot and he fired a shot into the back of the net to make it 6-4! That was Bourques third goal of the night. Bourque becomes the first Habs player to score a hat-trick in the conference finals since Guy Lafleur back in 1975 against the Bruins. He is also the first Canadien to get a playoff hat-trick since Andrei Kostitsyn in Round 1 against the Washington Capitals back in 2010. Desharnais would add an empty net goal as the Habs stay alive and win 7-4. In the win, Tokarski made 23 saves."We had a big power-play goal early and a few others throughout the night," Bourque said. "That was the difference for us tonight." In relief, Talbot made 6 saves on 8 shots. "That was a lot of fun," Pacioretty said. "We came out strong. That's a group effort. Everyone contributed tonight and that's makes it more special."
Towards the end of the third, John Moore hit Dale Weiss on what looked to be a blindside hit to the head. Moore was given a 5 minute major and a game misconduct and he will most likely get suspended for at minimum 2 games."The league will do what it has to do. I think he was penalized on the ice," Vigneault said. "John is definitely not the type of player to try to hurt someone, but it was a late hit and it was the right call on the ice." If the Habs play like this next game we will see a Game 7 back in Montreal on Saturday night. Game 6 for the Rangers is a 'must win,' if they lose Game 6 the Canadiens will win the series. So the pressure has shifted from the Montreal Canadiens to the New York Rangers. game 6 is Thursday at 8:08pm E.t.
Andrew Di Pardo
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