Carey Price on Monday stopped 30 shots as the Montreal Canadiens beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-1 in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs first round, storming back to engineer one of the biggest comebacks in recent NHL history.
Corey Perry’s power-play goal off a deflection in the second period proved to be the winner as the Canadiens won largely thanks to Price’s brilliant netminding.
“This is the best team game that we’ve played this season,” Price said. “I thought we had a pretty good chance all series, and obviously when we won Game 5 to get our second win we started gathering momentum, and we just kept at it and tried to keep that momentum going tonight.”
Photo: AFP
Price made a clutch save off Toronto’s Zach Hyman with 2 minutes, 46 seconds left in the third to preserve the two-goal lead.
Just one minute later, Tyler Toffoli scored into an empty Toronto net to make it 3-0 and seal the win for the Habs, who set up Game 7 with successive overtime wins in games 5 and 6.
The Canadiens advance to the second round to face the Winnipeg Jets.
There were no fans for Game 7 at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena because of pandemic restrictions still in effect in Canada.
Brendan Gallagher opened the scoring for visiting Montreal early in the second period, firing a shot through the legs of Maple Leaf netminder Jack Campbell.
“It’s just tough,” Campbell said. “I just think of how hard our team battled, and for it to end on the worst goal of my career, it happened in a Game 7. It’s not acceptable. The team counts on me to be better, and I know I can be a lot better than that.”
The Leafs finally got on the scoreboard when William Nylander scored with 1 minute, 36 seconds left in the third, but it was too little, too late for Toronto. The Leafs were the heavy favorites coming into the series, which was the first between the two storied Original Six rivals since 1979.
This marked just the second Game 7 between Montreal and Toronto, with the only other taking place in 1964.
All the pressure was on the Maple Leafs, who finished first in the North Division compared with the Habs, who placed fourth.
This latest playoff collapse is going to lead to plenty of soul searching for Toronto, who have not won a Stanley Cup since 1967, the longest drought of any NHL team.
In Monday’s other game, Casey Cizikas capitalized on a giveaway and scored on a breakaway 14 minutes, 48 seconds into overtime to lift the visiting New York Islanders over the Boston Bruins 4-3 in Game 2 of their East Division second-round series.
Bruins defenseman Jeremy Lauzon attempted to toss the puck into the Islanders’ zone, but it bounced off teammate Charlie Coyle’s skate to set up Cizikas’ breakaway. Cizikas beat Boston goalie Tuukka Rask high stick side to seal the win.
Additional reporting by Reuters
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
RSS