The Pittsburgh Penguins were expected to be the dominant team in this series, the one that relied on a solid foundation of three dominant centres, the one that wouldn't need to rely on special teams, the one that would physically dominate and intimidate on the ice.
The one that would win.
But somewhere along the way, the Montreal Canadiens flipped nearly all of those factors favouring the Penguins and turned them into an advantage for themselves, allowing them to force a 60-minute (or more) scramble to the Eastern Conference final in Game 7 Wednesday night at Mellon Arena (CBC, CBCSports.ca, 7 p.m. ET).
Those three dominant centres on Pittsburgh? They've got all of three goals in the series, with Sidney Crosby joining the ranks of Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal by scoring his lone goal of the series in Game 6.
That Penguins team that would dominate the special teams-reliant Canadiens? They've only scored eight even-strength goals in six games, with two of them going into an empty net. The Canadiens scored all four of their goals in Game 6 at even strength, and now have 11 in six games.
"It's interesting when you look at the [first-round] series against Washington, we dominated the special teams, the power play scored on a regular basis and our penalty kill was outstanding," Canadiens head coach Jacques Martin said after winning Game 6. "In this series, it's really been our play 5-on-5 that's made the difference with Pittsburgh. Hopefully, our power play will light up and be ready for the last game and we'll keep our play 5-on-5."
The Penguins are still the more physical team, but that is because the Canadiens appear to be making a concerted effort not to hit their opponents, as strange as that sounds. In Game 6, defencemen Josh Gorges, Jaroslav Spacek and P.K. Subban weren't credited with a single hit, while Roman Hamrlik got one.
For the most part, the Canadiens are staying a stick's length away from the Penguins attackers - particularly Crosby and Malkin - in an effort to remain
between them and the net.
The result has been lots of zone time and puck possession for the Penguins, but relatively few legitimate scoring opportunities. Malkin, for instance, had a whopping 14 shot attempts in Game 6, but seven of them were blocked. Crosby had the same kind of numbers in Game 5, with five of his seven shot
attempts blocked.
"The big difference from the regular season to the playoffs is we have more commitment without the puck, to go to the net, to execute the system, guys
working together as a unit," Martin said after a brief team meeting Tuesday prior to the charter flight to Pittsburgh. "That's probably what reflects it the most."
One area where the Canadiens are at a disadvantage when compared to the Penguins is the diversity of their attack, which has been dominated by the remarkable playoff performance of Michael Cammalleri.
His 11 goals in the post-season represent just over 34 per cent of the Canadiens total scoring through 13 games.
But if the Penguins find a way to limit his chances off the rush, something Pittsburgh coach Dan Bylsma repeatedly mentioned as a priority after Monday's Game 6 loss, the Canadiens would be in big trouble offensively.
Yet one player has begun to emerge as a potential difference maker for the Habs, and that's native son Maxim Lapierre.
He scored his third of the post-season in Game 6, a beautiful goal that turned out to be the winner, but most importantly he is showing a relentless engine on the forecheck that was absent all season.
Lapierre underwent a procedure on his ankle last off season and says it didn't completely heal until very recently. Often times in the regular season, Lapierre would forecheck and turn away from finishing his checks so he could maintain the speed he had already generated coming in and use that momentum to get back on defence. Now with a healthy ankle, he's finishing those checks and he has the strength to start from zero again and skate back up to full speed for his backchecking duties.
"It's fun," Lapierre said of the success he's enjoying now. "It was a tough year. I don't want to think about that any more, but I think it's all about the team here. Everyone's playing well."
The improved play of Lapierre has made his third line pairing with Dominic Moore a highly effective one for Martin, a line that can generate offence just as well as it can protect a lead. Martin has been using all sorts of players on the left wing of that line, but Moore and Lapierre have become a very important duo.
One interesting aspect of the pairing is that both are natural centres, but Lapierre shoots left and Moore shoots right. While Moore always remains at centre, the two have taken to splitting the faceoff duties, with whoever is on his strong (backhand) side taking the draw.
Speaking of faceoffs, it is worth noting that Tomas Plekanec was 16-5 in the circle in Game 6 after a difficult playoff so far in that area. More importantly, Plekanec was 15-5 against Crosby, so that will be something to look out for in Game 7.
The one that would win.
But somewhere along the way, the Montreal Canadiens flipped nearly all of those factors favouring the Penguins and turned them into an advantage for themselves, allowing them to force a 60-minute (or more) scramble to the Eastern Conference final in Game 7 Wednesday night at Mellon Arena (CBC, CBCSports.ca, 7 p.m. ET).
Those three dominant centres on Pittsburgh? They've got all of three goals in the series, with Sidney Crosby joining the ranks of Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal by scoring his lone goal of the series in Game 6.
That Penguins team that would dominate the special teams-reliant Canadiens? They've only scored eight even-strength goals in six games, with two of them going into an empty net. The Canadiens scored all four of their goals in Game 6 at even strength, and now have 11 in six games.
"It's interesting when you look at the [first-round] series against Washington, we dominated the special teams, the power play scored on a regular basis and our penalty kill was outstanding," Canadiens head coach Jacques Martin said after winning Game 6. "In this series, it's really been our play 5-on-5 that's made the difference with Pittsburgh. Hopefully, our power play will light up and be ready for the last game and we'll keep our play 5-on-5."
The Penguins are still the more physical team, but that is because the Canadiens appear to be making a concerted effort not to hit their opponents, as strange as that sounds. In Game 6, defencemen Josh Gorges, Jaroslav Spacek and P.K. Subban weren't credited with a single hit, while Roman Hamrlik got one.
For the most part, the Canadiens are staying a stick's length away from the Penguins attackers - particularly Crosby and Malkin - in an effort to remain
between them and the net.
The result has been lots of zone time and puck possession for the Penguins, but relatively few legitimate scoring opportunities. Malkin, for instance, had a whopping 14 shot attempts in Game 6, but seven of them were blocked. Crosby had the same kind of numbers in Game 5, with five of his seven shot
attempts blocked.
"The big difference from the regular season to the playoffs is we have more commitment without the puck, to go to the net, to execute the system, guys
working together as a unit," Martin said after a brief team meeting Tuesday prior to the charter flight to Pittsburgh. "That's probably what reflects it the most."
One area where the Canadiens are at a disadvantage when compared to the Penguins is the diversity of their attack, which has been dominated by the remarkable playoff performance of Michael Cammalleri.
His 11 goals in the post-season represent just over 34 per cent of the Canadiens total scoring through 13 games.
But if the Penguins find a way to limit his chances off the rush, something Pittsburgh coach Dan Bylsma repeatedly mentioned as a priority after Monday's Game 6 loss, the Canadiens would be in big trouble offensively.
Yet one player has begun to emerge as a potential difference maker for the Habs, and that's native son Maxim Lapierre.
He scored his third of the post-season in Game 6, a beautiful goal that turned out to be the winner, but most importantly he is showing a relentless engine on the forecheck that was absent all season.
Lapierre underwent a procedure on his ankle last off season and says it didn't completely heal until very recently. Often times in the regular season, Lapierre would forecheck and turn away from finishing his checks so he could maintain the speed he had already generated coming in and use that momentum to get back on defence. Now with a healthy ankle, he's finishing those checks and he has the strength to start from zero again and skate back up to full speed for his backchecking duties.
"It's fun," Lapierre said of the success he's enjoying now. "It was a tough year. I don't want to think about that any more, but I think it's all about the team here. Everyone's playing well."
The improved play of Lapierre has made his third line pairing with Dominic Moore a highly effective one for Martin, a line that can generate offence just as well as it can protect a lead. Martin has been using all sorts of players on the left wing of that line, but Moore and Lapierre have become a very important duo.
One interesting aspect of the pairing is that both are natural centres, but Lapierre shoots left and Moore shoots right. While Moore always remains at centre, the two have taken to splitting the faceoff duties, with whoever is on his strong (backhand) side taking the draw.
Speaking of faceoffs, it is worth noting that Tomas Plekanec was 16-5 in the circle in Game 6 after a difficult playoff so far in that area. More importantly, Plekanec was 15-5 against Crosby, so that will be something to look out for in Game 7.
