"It feels great," Artturi Lehkonen says after scoring the series-winning goal in overtime as Montreal beats the Golden Knights in six games.
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Phil Danault and his linemates are best known for their defensive role, but they produced the biggest goal of the season Thursday night as the Canadiens defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 3-2 in overtime to book a spot in the Stanley Cup for the first time since 1993.
“I’m not going to lie to you, it feels great,” Artturi Lehkonen said after he took a pass from Danault and went top-shelf on Robin Lehner.
The third member of the line, Brendan Gallagher, picked up the second assist on the goal. It was the first point in this series for all three of them.
“It was a great play by Phil and a great shot by Lehky,” acting coach Luke Richardson said. “This is the time of year when real playoff battlers come alive and those guys have come through and so for our team, the way we play trying to do all the right things defensively, it was fitting that they should score the winning goal.”
The winning goal was scored after Carey Price made a save on former Canadiens captain Max Pacioretty and another on Alec Martinez.
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Danault, who continued his tradition of showing up for the post-game Zoom call after series-clinching games with a slice of pizza, said the sequence was a reflection of the Canadiens’ season.
“We always start in our defensive zone and we try to carry some offence against the (opponent’s) big line,” Danault said. “Pricey made a big save and we took the draw and we left and capitalized on it.”
The goal made a winner of Price, who turned in another outstanding performance with 37 saves. Price has allowed two or fewer goals in eight of his last nine starts. He has posted five of his 12 wins in these playoffs in overtime.
The Canadiens now await the winner of Game 7 between the New York Islanders and the Tampa Bay Lightning Friday in Tampa.
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The Canadiens were the last team to qualify for the playoffs, but a classy Lehner offered his congratulations to the winners and put their achievement into perspective when he said: “Everyone underestimates them. Good for them, obviously sucks for us.”
Cole Caufield and Lehner were involved in what Caufield called “fun and games” earlier this week. Lehner stopped Caufield in Game 4 Sunday, when the youngster tried to score in between the goalie’s pads and Lehner credited the Golden Knights’ scouting for the save.
Caufield went in on Lehner Thursday night and beat him by going upstairs. When asked if he was trying to make a point by going high on Lehner, Caufield replied: “I was just trying to find the back of the net.”
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Richardson is filling in for Dominique Ducharme, who is in isolation after testing positive for COVID-19. Ducharme has stayed in touch with his staff and the players using Zoom and Richardson said he exchanged an electronic fist bump with Ducharme after the game.
“The guys really miss him and they respect what he’s done this year,” Richardson said. “It’s kinda the hard part of the story, but the good thing is the players feel they got something done and extended (the playoffs) so Dom can get back with us.”
Richardson said the Canadiens would take a day off Friday and would watch the Islanders-Lightning showdown. He didn’t express any preference for a final opponent. He described the Islanders as a team whose style is similar to the Canadiens, while the Lightning is an explosive offensive team.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiWmh0dHBzOi8vbW9udHJlYWxnYXpldHRlLmNvbS9zcG9ydHMvaG9ja2V5L25obC9ob2NrZXktaW5zaWRlLW91dC9oYWJzLWdvbGRlbi1rbmlnaHRzLXJvb21lctIBiAFodHRwczovL21vbnRyZWFsZ2F6ZXR0ZS5jb20vc3BvcnRzL2hvY2tleS9uaGwvaG9ja2V5LWluc2lkZS1vdXQvaGFicy1nb2xkZW4ta25pZ2h0cy1yb29tZXIvd2NtLzk0YmE1MTllLWM4MmEtNDFlZS04ZjQ0LTZjMWI2MzViNWNmMi9hbXAv?oc=5
2021-06-25 05:43:37Z
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