Canadiens dash Penguins' hopes for Stanley Cup repeat
-
Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury watches as the Canadiens' third goal goes in the net in the second period of Wednesday's game at Mellon Arena.
Share with others:
It is the kind of defeat the Penguins had not suffered in nearly two years.
The kind that leaves emotions raw and exposed.
Eyes, moist and red.
Dreams, dead and buried.
The kind that ends a season.
Montreal beat them, 5-2, in Game 7 of the second round Wednesday night at Mellon Arena, snuffing the Penguins' chances of winning a second consecutive Stanley Cup before their run at another title had built momentum.
The game also was the Penguins' final one at Mellon Arena, where their inaugural game was a 2-1 loss to the Canadiens Oct. 11, 1967.
The victory was the second in a row in a seventh game on the road this spring for the Canadiens, who upset Washington in Round 1 and will face the survivor of the Boston-Philadelphia series in the Eastern Conference final.
Montreal was the lower seed in this series, but not the lesser team. The Canadiens had an edge in most facets of play and earned their spot in Round 3 with impressive efficiency and execution.
"It just came down to execution and came down to one game," Penguins center Sidney Crosby said. "That's basically it. They played better."
And excellent goaltending. Jaroslav Halak turned aside 37 of 39 shots in Game 7; his Penguins counterpart, Marc-Andre Fleury, was pulled early in the second period after allowing four goals on 13 shots.
"We didn't have a great start," center Jordan Staal said. "And we kind of hung [Fleury] out to dry."
Crosby controlled the faceoff that started the game. Usually, that is not worth noting, but that proved to be about as good as it got for the Penguins.
They were assessed two penalties in the first 32 seconds of play, and Montreal used the first of those power plays -- the result of a boarding call against Crosby -- to go in front to stay. Brian Gionta got the goal at 32 seconds, deflecting a P.K. Subban centering pass behind Fleury from the left side of the net.
"As a coach, you plan for different scenarios," Dan Bylsma of the Penguins said. "You can safely say this is one I didn't plan for."
First Published May 13, 2010 12:00 am
