Is this destiny? Fate? Good luck? Some of all of that has been in play with this Canadiens team. What no one will question is the roller coaster of emotions over the last three days. From the doom and gloom of Saturday’s Game 6 blowout to the unbridled joy of Alex Newhook’s OT winner in Game 7 and everything in between. The youngest team in the Stanley Cup Playoffs has given every fan a lot of stressful, sleepless nights.
It started with Game 6 where the stars looked to have finally aligned. A Saturday night playoff game in Montreal. A game I wasn’t going to miss in-person. The atmosphere and anticipation were at a new level, as it should be for a Saturday night at the Bell Centre.
It’s kicked off by one of my favourite players of all-time and one of the greatest blueliners in the team’s illustrious history, Larry Robinson, carrying in the beloved torch. Another poor start by the Habs has everyone on edge, but momentum quickly turns as they beat Sabres goalie Alex Lyon 3 times on 3 shots to take a 3-1 lead.
Could this be happening? I think everyone in the Bell Centre at that point was thinking the same thing. We’re going to the conference finals.
Sadly, we didn’t realize we were watching a bizarro version of Game 5 as the Sabres took over after that and scored seven unanswered goals to embarrass Montreal on home ice and send the series back to Buffalo for Game 7.
What was supposed to be a magical night in Montreal was anything but that and I’m headed home thinking about what could have been but knowing we still have another shot at moving on.
The Canadiens refused to let Game 6 define them
Flash forward to Monday. It’s a holiday in Canada and I’ve got a whole day to prep and get ready. I’m in my usual spot for the game in my Lane Hutson jersey, my wife is sitting alongside decked out in her Habs hoodie and ready to go.
It’s a back and forth first period with the Canadiens striking first on a redirection off Phillip Danault’s skate to open the scoring. The Habs add another one on a rocket from Zachary Bolduc, 2-0 heading into the first intermission.
It’s the kind of start that gets me thinking about my next trip back to Montreal for the Conference Final. But that’s the kind of foolish optimism that will burn you with this team.
The second period starts and Buffalo is buzzing. They are controlling and forcing the play at both ends of the ice. The Habs look like a team trying not to lose rather than playing to win. Sure enough the Sabres make them pay as Jordan Greenway gets the Sabres within one heading to the third period.
No need to panic. The Canadiens still have a lead heading into the final frame. At least that’s what I keep telling myself. The third period gets underway and it’s looking a lot like the second period. The Sabres are pushing the pace and the Canadiens are holding on for dear life. Cue Jakub Dobes. The rookie netminder is once again brilliant in a Game 7. Holding down the fort as best as he can under this siege by the Sabres.
The Sabres keep pressing and they are finally rewarded as Captain Rasmus Dahlin fires the tying goal over Dobes shoulder. The Habs squander another two goal lead and we’re all tied up. Things remain that way thanks to a quick whistle that denies the Sabres go-ahead goal and we’re headed to overtime.
It seemed inevitable for this series to end this way. Two of the youngest and hungriest teams in the NHL trying to take that next leap forward.
Who will be the hero? Who will cement their status in their team’s history with a Game 7 overtime winner?
As overtime gets underway, the Canadiens look like the team that came out in the first period. Rejuvenated and ready to put this one to bed.
Close to midway of the overtime period, a Sabres breakdown at the Habs blue line develops and a 3-on-2 breaks out. Alexandre Carrier finds Alex Newhook streaking in on the far wall. Newhook, who played hero in Game 7 against Tampa, delivers yet again as he releases a shot that flutters under Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen’s glove and seals the win. Newhook’s status as a Habs legend is all but secured now with a Game 7 overtime winner to add to his growing list of playoff accomplishments.
This team that has given me heart palpitations throughout the playoffs did the unthinkable again. After a disastrous Game 6 they come right back led by Jakub Dobes’ brilliance and find a way to win.
It wasn’t pretty but none of that will matter in the afterglow of this victory.
This team continues to rewrite the record books. Dobes and the Habs are 6-0 after a loss in this postseason. Dobes is also the first rookie goalie since Ken Dryden to win two Game 7s in a postseason.
The youngest team in the playoffs becomes the youngest team to make the conference finals in 33 years. The last team to do that was the 1993 Montreal Canadiens. Is that just coincidence? Is it fate? Or destiny?
I don’t know but what awaits the Canadiens is the Carolina Hurricanes who have been sitting at home for 11 days waiting for their next opponent. The Habs will undoubtedly be a heavy underdog but that’s just the way they will want it because as they have proven time and time again in these playoffs you can’t count them out. They will come back and find a way. Seems like destiny to me.
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