A Winning Habit
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Montreal Canadiens: Looking Back On Their Most Recent Playoff Series

By Ken MacMillan

NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 22: Mats Zuccarello #36 of the New York Rangers scores a goal against Carey Price #31 of the Montreal Canadiens during the second period in Game Six of the Eastern Conference First Round during the 2017 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Madison Square Garden on April 22, 2017 in New York City. The Rangers defeated the Canadiens 3-1. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 22: Mats Zuccarello #36 of the New York Rangers scores a goal against Carey Price #31 of the Montreal Canadiens during the second period in Game Six of the Eastern Conference First Round during the 2017 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Madison Square Garden on April 22, 2017 in New York City. The Rangers defeated the Canadiens 3-1. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK, NY – APRIL 22: Henrik Lundqvist #30 of the New York Rangers (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY – APRIL 22: Henrik Lundqvist #30 of the New York Rangers (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

Game 6

It was do or die for the Habs in Game 6 after losing back to back contests. The game got off on the right foot as a Herculean effort from Radulov got the puck back to Alexei Emelin at the point and the rugged, defensive defenseman wired a wrist shot into the top corner to give the Habs a 1-0 lead.

The Habs took that lead into the first intermission, but an early penalty to Jordie Benn put them down a man. The Rangers moved the puck around the Habs zone quickly and a cross-ice feed from Game 5 Hero Mika Zibanejad got to Zuccarello who tied the game.

Another great forechecking shift from Miller (fully healed from the Game 2 decapitation) and Hayes, got the puck in the Habs zone. Miller moved it to Hayes in the slot who found Zuccarello at the side of the net and he tapped in his second of the game to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead late in the second period.

On the ice for the Habs for that goal were Jordie Benn, Brandon Davidson, Steve Ott, Dwight King and Michael McCarron. Yikes.

The Habs had some great chances to tie the game, with Weber being robbed on a point shot, and Petry getting in tight but stopped by the arm of Lundqvist. The best chance came in the final minute when a puck squirted loose to Plekanec just in front of the Rangers crease. It was a bouncing, rolling puck and Plekanec couldn’t get a lot on it. Lundqvist just kicked his pad out in time to stop it. Had Plekanec put about seven inches of air underneath it, it would have gone in for sure.

Lehkonen had another chance with about 20 seconds left in regulation, but his shot was blocked. Derek Stepan quickly flipped it down the ice and it ended up in the Habs open goal for an empty net series clincher.

When the final buzzer sounded, reality quickly set in that the Habs just could not score often enough on Lundqvist to win this series. He completed the series having allowed 11 goals on 206 shots over the six games. He had a 1.70 GAA and a .947 SV%.

Price was terrific all series as well. He had a 1.86 GAA and a .933 SV% but it wasn’t enough. Max Pacioretty didn’t score a goal the whole series, neither did Danault or Galchenyuk. It was a painful series for Habs fans to watch.

Next. 5 Trades That Ruined Recent Habs Dynasty Before it Began. dark

However, it has been even more painful watching the past three seasons without any playoff games at the Bell Centre. At least this series had a few huge highs like Plekanec and Radulov’s goals in Game 2 at the Bell Centre.

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