Last weekend the NHL returned to play after a layoff of almost five months. There were already surprising results in the newly made Stanley Cup Qualifiers, one of them being the Pittsburgh Penguins, who went down as a favorite against the Montreal Canadians. Will the Penguins be able to level the score in the best-of-five series on Monday night, or will the Habs be able to surprise once more?
Pittsburgh Penguins: suffered an undeserved defeat
The last time the Pittsburgh Penguins failed to qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs was in the season 2005-2006. The Penguins have been one of the favourites or outsiders for winning the Stanley Cup for years. This season things went a lot more difficult and that was partly due to long-term injuries of important players like Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Patric Hornqvist and Jake Guentzel.
Pittsburgh opened the first game of the best-of-five series against the Montreal Canadians Saturday night in a strong way, but they're unable to turn dominance into goals. Carey Price stood on his head on behalf of the Canadiens, but after trailing 2-0, the Penguins managed to finally beat the goalie twice. Pittsburgh also had the better of the game in overtime, but the 2-3 loss left a sour taste eventually.
Montreal Canadians: Win in OT
Last season the Montreal Canadians missed the playoffs by a hair. It was a bitter pill for all the Habs fans. This season, just before the COVID-19 pandemic, things looked even bleaker. Goalie Carey Price wasn't able to reach his normal level and the team just lacks offensive power. The one-time change of set-up of the Stanley Cup playoffs gave the Canadiens a huge oppurtunity to surprise during the Stanley Cup Qualifiers and they did just that in the first game.
Montreal was already written off by many hockey fans and media prior to the best-of-five series against the Pittsburgh Penguins, but the team, led by coach Claude Julien, caused a huge upset in Pittsburgh last weekend. Thanks to goals by Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Nick Suzuki, Montreal took a comfortable 2-0 lead early in the second period. The Penguins were able to clear the deficit in the remainder of the regulation playing time. Overtime had to determine who would win the first duel and defender Jeff Petry finally gave Montreal a somewhat surprising win.
Pittsburgh Penguins in regulation
The Pittsburgh Penguins will have to fight back after Saturday night's defeat. A fit Jake Guentzel, who missed no less than thirty games in the regular season, could make the difference here. The winger stood out before his shoulder injury in December and his availability is a huge boost for Pittsburgh's coach Mike Sullivan. Price stopped 39 of 41 shots last Saturday, and The Habs need another strong performance from him to get the win. I expect that the Pittsburgh, with their back already half against the wall, will be able to even the score in the series and that they'll have a better answer to Price in the second game.
