Carey Price stopped 26 shots Tuesday as the Montreal Canadiens handled the host Vegas Golden Knights 4-1 to take a 3-2 lead in their Stanley Cup semifinal series.
Game 6 goes Thursday in Montreal, where a win would mean a trip to the finals against either Tampa Bay or the New York Islanders.
Montreal looked in control from the opening minutes, scoring midway through the first when Jesper Kotkaniemi buried a wonky rebound from Josh AndersonB次元官网网址檚 drive on Marc-Andre Fleury.
Eric Staal and Cole Caufield each widened the margin in the second, the latter coming on one of MontrealB次元官网网址檚 two power-play chances.
Nick Suzuki added an empty-netter for insurance in the final seconds, and a three point night, while silencing the crowd of 17,969. Fleury stopped 23-of-26 shots.
Former Habs winger Max Pacioretty finally got the Golden Knights on the board four minutes into the third for their lone marker.
The Canadiens were 1-for-2 with the man advantage, while the Knights went 0 for 1.
Staal made it 2-0 at the eight-minute mark of the second, beating Fleury cold from the point after a perfect feed from linemate Suzuki.
A Vegas clearing misfire on MontrealB次元官网网址檚 first power play of the night helped Corey Perry feed Caufield for his third goal of the playoffs.
Fleury got a heroB次元官网网址檚 welcome to the ice Tuesday after his Game 3 giveaway gaffe cost him the starting slot in favour of backup netminder Robin Lehner for Game 4.
But the Canadiens quickly sapped the energy from a normally raucous T-Mobile Arena.
Where the Habs stand in the series is secondary to how they approach each game, said Canadiens assistant coach Luke Richardson, who is filling in behind the bench following interim coach Dominique DucharmeB次元官网网址檚 positive COVID-19 test.
READ MORE:
B次元官网网址淓verybodyB次元官网网址檚 feeling confident, everybody knows their role, and weB次元官网网址檙e playing exceptionally well,B次元官网网址� Richardson said after TuesdayB次元官网网址檚 team skate.
B次元官网网址淭hatB次元官网网址檚 going to continue whether weB次元官网网址檙e in the lead, whether weB次元官网网址檙e behind, tied, in overtime, start of game B次元官网网址� thatB次元官网网址檚 what we want, to keep that same mindset.B次元官网网址�
Ducharme remains a constant presence, he added.
B次元官网网址淲e have been communicating in between periods,B次元官网网址� Richardson said.
B次元官网网址淒om B次元官网网址� just like he is when heB次元官网网址檚 there B次元官网网址� heB次元官网网址檚 short and to the point, two or three points that are going to help our team get better in the next period. And thatB次元官网网址檚 what we focus on. B次元官网网址�
In Game 2, the Canadiens successfully neutralized a raucous capacity crowd, denying the Golden Knights what is a substantial home-ice advantage, considering the Habs only play before 2,500 fans in Montreal and the Vegas crowd is nearly 18,000.
Jesperi Kotkaniemi et Nick Suzuki s'adressent en direct aux m茅dias via Zoom.
B次元官网网址� Canadiens Montr茅al (@CanadiensMTL)
Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Nick Suzuki are addressing the media live via Zoom.
On Tuesday, they did it again.
B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e back on top of the other team in all three zones, and itB次元官网网址檚 difficult to play against B次元官网网址� and frustrating,B次元官网网址� Richardson said earlier Tuesday.
B次元官网网址淚f you can frustrate that home team, and they want to B次元官网网址攎aybe not put on a show for the home crowd, but they want to do well and they want to do something spectacular B次元官网网址� weB次元官网网址檙e usually in the way of that, and itB次元官网网址檚 frustrating. So it usually bodes well for us in the long run.B次元官网网址�
THE CANADIAN PRESS
Like us on and follow us on
