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Canadiens Bow Out With a 1-0 Loss in Game 5 |
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Last night in Tampa, John Cooper’s men had definitely decided that they wouldn’t miss another chance to win a second Cup in a row. They came out strong and positively swarmed the Canadiens’ defensive zone for most of the first period. After 20 minutes, the shots were 13-4 for the Bolts and they also dominated the hits column with 25 big ones compared to Montreal’s 16. Considering how much of the puck they had, that is quite a feat.
Carey Price put in another great performance stopping 29 on the 30 shots he faced, he was only beaten once by a perfect Colton deflection on which he could do next to nothing. Price was almost flawless last night, but Vasilesvkiy was perfect and it made the difference. He saved the 22 shots the Habs put on net, and he was on his way to 1-0 shutout, a game 5 win, a second Stanley Cup in as many years and a Conn Smythe trophy as the playoffs MVP. There’s no doubt that the best team won the Stanley Cup last night, but the Canadiens can be proud of what they accomplished in any case.
The post game interviews were absolutely devastating for the Habs faithful, seeing Weber, Price, Gallagher and Danault looking crushed as they were was hard to handle. Gallagher was fighting back tears, Price was taking the blame while Weber was telling him to stop it and that the team hadn’t been good enough in front of him. As for Philip Danault, he looked a bit shaken up…understandable considering he’s probably wondering what he’ll do or where he’ll be next year.
The Canadiens were so close and yet so far at the same time. To win hockey ultimate prize, everything needs to go well, and it unfortunately didn’t for Montreal. It’s a real shame for the likes of Weber and Price who are starting to feel the effects of time, but you can only play the hand you’re dealt with. As for Dominique Ducharme, he praised his men and confirmed that Weber, Petry, Gallaher and Toffoli were all playing injured, Gally to the groin and something else in the coach’s words, hopefully, the off season will be enough for him to heal.
Now, before I let you go, I must say a few words about Kucherov. You’ve probably all seen his media availability by now… There is such a thing as being a bad winner and he certainly was last night. I get it, he likes his goaltender and thinks he’s awesome, but there’s a way to say that without lacking respect to the Vezina trophy winner. As for his comments that the Montreal fans celebrated as if they had won the Cup after one game, I think they are quite petty. Montreal loves its team and its hockey, after 15 months of pandemic, people needed something to cheer for, to make they feel better and that’s what those playoffs have been, even if there was no Cup at the end.
Now, Marc Bergevin and co. must turn to the future and make some tough decisions; who to protect? Who to tade? What to do with Jonathan Drouin? We’ll have the answers in the next few weeks but until then, know that the teams have until July 17th to submit their protection list for the expectation draft which will take place on July 21st. Then, it will be time for the NHL draft on the 23rd and 24th of
July, with free agency opening on July 28th, buckle up, these will be interesting times.
And chin-up, no one though the Habs would do so well, but it was heck of a Cup run and we won’t forget about it anytime s
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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