The Montreal Canadiens were trying to clinch a berth in the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time since 2017, while the Pittsburgh Penguins were trying to stay alive and force a fifth game on Sunday.
The first period started with the Penguins jumping out of the gates at a fast pace, and through the first five minutes of the game, were outshooting the Habs early on, 4-1. It would take a couple minutes, but Montreal started to wake up and the game resumed what we had seen in the previous games.
Montreal was quickly looking for that first goal, but the Penguins weren’t giving an inch and we saw a tighter brand of hockey then usual. Montreal would get the game’s first power play opportunity when Evgeni Malkin was sent off for high sticking.
Pittsburgh would be able to kill it off and the opening period ended deadlocked at 0.
We enter the second period and the game was staying tight as neither team was giving an edge. Through the frame’s first five minutes, neither side was able to register a shot on goal. The Canadiens were looking for that elusive first goal, but Tristian Jarry, who was playing his first ever playoff game, was standing tall for the Penguins in net.
Pittsburgh had a great chance to score when Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel went on a two-on-one, but Carey Price would come up big and make a great save. At this point of the game, the shots were 10 a piece through 30 minutes of play.
The Penguins got their first power play of the game when Joel Armia was sent off for high sticking. Montreal would manage to kill the penalty and would get another chance on the man advantage. This was four minutes later when Brian Dumoulin was called for holding.
Pittsburgh, once again, would kill the man advantage, this seeing the period end while tied at 0.
Off the opening face-off in the third, Brendan Gallagher got a great chance to go in on Jarry, but he would stop it with a great glove save. On the next play, Paul Byron got another shot that deflected the post and it seemed like Montreal was really pushing for that goal.
Gallagher continued to be relentless as he had another chance with a great shot, but Jarry, once again, would then come up with a brilliant glove save. Pittsburgh would get a chance of their own and started to show some pushback, but Price was a wall in net.
Dale Weise would get the first penalty of the third period when was sent off to the box for tripping. This would give the Penguins yet another chance on the man advantage. Montreal, once again, came up big on the penalty kill and the pace of the game was picking up as the clock winded down.
With four minutes left in the game, Paul Byron had a great chance on net and was hooked on the play, but made an amazing pass to Artturi Lehkonen who had a wide open net. As such, he would make no mistake as he shot the puck into the back of the net.
The Canadiens finally had the goal they were looking for and the realization of the upset actually happening was coming to life. Pittsburgh did everything to try and comeback in this game, but with 30 seconds left and their net empty for the extra attacker, Shea Weber would fire the puck from his own zone into the back of the net. This would give Montreal a 2-0 lead with 30 seconds remaining.
That pretty much sealed the deal, knocking out the Penguins as the Canadiens advanced. Montreal had done the unthinkable and eliminated a team that had a 15 point advantage on them when the regular season was called to a halt.
That said, the Montreal Canadiens have officially qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs. As they now get set to play in round one, they will face either the Tampa Bay Lightning or the Philadelphia Flyers which would begin on Tuesday. This of course being dependent on the round robin winner on Saturday night.
Puck drop is scheduled to take place at 8:00pmET at Scotiabank Arena. The game is available for viewing on Sportsnet One, Sportsnet 360, TVA Sports and NBC. It can also be heard via radio on 97.5 The Fanatic and 970 WFLA.