Habs vs Bruins : Subban gets Bell Centre roaring

source : Faceoff.com

Thomas Vanek's pass to Tomas Plekanec was made with more velocity than some NHL players shoot the puck. Plekanec cradled it, roofed it over sprawling Boston goalie Tuukka Rask midway through Tuesday's first period and the 1-0 Canadiens' lead shook the Bell Centre to its foundation.
And then there was P.K.

Goodness, there was first-star P.K.

Defenceman P.K. Subban led mostly with his butt, Bruins' Reilly Smith in his crosshairs rushing across centre ice along the boards. Not only did Subban nearly vaporize Smith, he wiped out Vanek as collateral damage, sending his teammate to the dressing room for the final 7½ minutes of the period and himself to the penalty box for roughing.

Subban served his two minutes, then jumped in behind a surprised Bruins defence as he bolted from the box, sprinting in alone on Rask with a shifty deke to bury the puck in the Boston net four minutes after Plekanec's heroics.

When's the last time Montreal had an earthquake? About the time the goal light went on at 14:44 of the first, Subban wheeling away in celebration, his kneeling fist-pump a blurry mess on the scoreboard because the overhead camera was shaking in rhythm with the arena.

And then . . . Dale Weise.

When Weise is tiptoeing in behind the Bruins defence on a gorgeous pass from Daniel Brière and beating Rask on a breakaway midway through the second period, you figure the hockey gods have intervened.

Of course, this one got much more interesting than Canadiens fans would have liked, this city in need of one colossal defibrillator.

The Habs' 3-1 lead going into the third period was their third two-goal lead in a third period this series — Game 1 a double-overtime win, Game 2 a brutal loss.

And when Bruins defenceman Andrej Meszaros scored at 17:44 of the third, the horrid sense of déjà-vu, times two, gripped the Bell Centre.

That is, until Lars Eller — or Lahs Ellah, as he's known in Boston — hit an empty Bruins net with three seconds to play, giving the Habs a 4-2 victory and a 2-1 lead in this best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal.

"We've got a business attitude (as a team), we approach games with a business mindset. This is what I like about our group," Canadiens head coach Michel Therrien said.

The Habs left Boston Saturday night after their dreadful meltdown vowing to put the Game 2 loss behind them.

Not only did they win Game 3, but they remain perfect in this Ginette Reno Era, having won all three times this playoff season that the Quebec superstar has performed O Canada.

"We needed to have the right attitude to approach tonight's game and to play in front of our fans," Therrien said. "Guys were battling very hard, paying the price, blocking shots, and Carey (Price) made some key saves at the right time. It was a good team effort."

Therrien's counterpart, Claude Julien, said it was a lack of awareness that cost his Bruins dearly, pegging that as the reason for the Canadiens' first three goals before Eller's finishing nail.

"The first goal, (Plekanec) sneaking in the back door; breakaways, guys sneaking in from behind and (our) not knowing that it's the end of a power play, they should be looking at the guy coming out of the box," Julien said.

Indeed, Rask would say that he was not banging his stick on the ice at the end of Subban's penalty to warn his defencemen of the Canadien's imminent release.

"As usual, we kind of battled back and got ourselves in the game," Julien said. "But certainly, we dug ourselves a hole too big to get out of tonight.

"(The Canadiens) played a better game than they probably did in Boston but (we weren't) good enough at the start to give ourselves a chance."

The eve of this tilt began with Bruins' Torey Krug and Dougie Hamilton claiming they had figured out Price by having allegedly exposed in Game 2 his weakness up high in the Montreal net — as the Bruins had tried unsuccessfully last season to get into the head of Chicago netminder Corey Crawford.

In the hours before Tuesday's game, Julien tried to douse a little of the predictable conflagration.

"When you look at the beginning of the series and you have both goalies, I don't think there are any secrets," Julien said after the Bruins' morning skate. "I had Carey Price for several weeks with Team Canada (at the Sochi Olympics). He's one of the best goalies in the National Hockey League."

Price demonstrated that for the joyful home crowd, making a handful of superb stops — he finished with 26 saves — until Patrice Bergeron beat him with a deft deflection late in the second to make the score 3-1.

"I don't think we're here talking about weaknesses or things like that," Julien said of Price. "It's pretty obvious that, thanks to him, his team is very good at the moment. He's been playing some great hockey from the start. Some things said by a young player were taken out of context, and something bigger was made of it."

At least some of the off-ice uproar before Game 3 was reminiscent of what went down in Montreal before the Canadiens' 2010 quarter-final against the Washington Capitals.
Remember Plekanec, favourably comparing the Habs tandem of Jaroslav Halak and Price to Washington's Semyon Varlamov and José Theodore?

"I'm not saying their goalies are bad," Plekanec said then of the Caps. "I'm just saying our goalies are better."

Plekanec would be proven right, of course. Halak played mind-blowing goal, stopping 94 of 96 shots he faced in Games 6 and 7 — a .979 save percentage — then leading his team another two rounds in the post-season.

And four years later, on Tuesday against Boston, Plekanec got his team off to a rousing start toward a victory that was never in doubt.
Well, OK, it was in doubt. But for the home fans, the final result was as delicious as anything they'll serve in the finest cardiac ward in town.