I'm Still Stunned About Last Night's Incredible Hockey Game
Wow. Just...wow. I woke up today with my jaw still agape from what I watched.
In an absolute stunner in Montreal last night, Vegas pissed away their best effort of the series and snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. Hanging onto a 2-1 lead with under two minutes left thanks to a dominant checking performance in which VGK outshot the Habs nearly 2 to 1, Vegas goalie Marc-Andre Fleury got whammied by the Pierre Jinx...
My lord. In a post-season in which he's been one of the best goalies and put himself into the Conn Smythe conversation, MAF committed one of the worst gaffes of his career on what had been a stellar night for him. Everybody was waiting for the Habs to pull Carey Price and see if there would be a rare Puck Line Jesus sighting. Instead, a heads-up Josh Anderson potted his first goal since Game 1 vs. the Leafs when he pounced on MAF's Fumblefuck™, immediately mainlining adrenaline into the Canadiens and the raucous crowd of 3500.
Still, Vegas wasn't done. The game wasn't over. Brush it off, however horrific, and get the next one in OT and all is forgotten, they're up 2-1 in series. Then this happened...
The Worm took an absolute dagger to the face. The guy in stripes was feet away with a seemingly decent view of Jonathan Marchessault's failed attempt at knocking the puck out of thin air. Instead, his twig caught Corey Perry's twig while Perry was lifting his stick and March's twig rode right into Perry's mug at a very high rate of speed. It was certainly accidental with a heaping tablespoon of shit timing. It was also a four-minute double minor in OT that wasn't called (the booth was claiming it should've been a five-minute major but it was an attempt to play the puck gone awry not an intentional high-sticking). Given the amount of chintzy calls we've seen throughout this post-season, it was stunning to not see this no-brainer of a penalty callled right away; the horror was doubled when we saw the Worm's angry, bloodied face and realized that no call was coming.
And that's when I realized I had seen this movie before.
Whatever you want to call it---Forum Ghosts, Hockey Gods, karma, payback, justice---you just knew it was coming because it's the Montreal Canadiens at home in the playoffs. (And their wily vet got fucking creamed and it wasn't penalized.)
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I'm adding the clip below so you can see how the vastly outplayed Habs ended up with a 2-on-0 in OT...
After flipping the puck in the air, VGK D-man Alex Pietrangelo, who has been stellar and showing why he got that bag, went for the long change at the worst possible time as his airborne pass barely got into the zone. Instead, it bounced over Reilly Smith's stick and was poked at the blue line by---who else?---Jeff Petry over to Jesperi Kotkaniemi. The young Finn then made a brilliant pass a just-got-on-the-ice Anderson who batted the puck down where it then hit his skate and was anybody's puck for less than a second. A streaking Paul Byron, who also just got on the ice, beat what looked like a gassed Shea Theodore to the puck and the Habs suddenly had a jaw-dropping 2-on-0. Byron's subtle fake and dish to Anderson was thing of beauty and the now-longer-slumping Anderson did not miss on the biggest SOG of his career.
Blouses, as they say. Just an incredible turn of events in Montreal and suddenly the league's marquee franchise is two wins from their first Stanley Cup Final since 1993. Everything old is new again. The Habs are now up 2-1 with Game 4 in their own barn and a chance to put a python-like grip on the series. Shocking and amazing. You can't beat the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
A few more buds for your Clarence Campbell Bowl...
*Just because one team is dominating possession does not mean the other team is committing penalties. A squad can be simultaneously getting worked and stay disciplined.
*I said on Chiclets before the playoffs to be wary of the Habs come playoff time because of their team history and legacy. I compared pulling on the iconic CH to that of Superman's iconic bleu, blanc et jaunce---there's just something different when you put on those duds. Yes, Price is a huge part of the success however this is a team-wide effort. The effort, choke-the-life-out-of-you checking, and team defense have all been stellar. It might not make for a shitload of highlights but it makes for a shitload of victories. And that's all that matters this time of year.
*According to Twitter, the refs/NHL are rigging these games for Tampa Bay, New York, Montreal, and Vegas. Pretty impressive. Hopefully nobody gets whacked for this c-o-n-spiracy...
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*When the Habs were down 3-1 to Toronto in the series, they were available at 100/1 in some shops. I didn't bite. So if they end up winning the Cup...
*I know Peter North is a Nova Scotia guy. But I'm not sure if Paul Byron is related to Tom.
Holy shit! It's Dirk Diggler!
*When you realize Dr. Richard Kimble has escaped and is coming for your ass...
*I fucking love Corey Perry.