Canadiens’ Weise proving to be clutch
Grinder turns into scorer in playoffs, gives Montreal commanding lead on Ottawa
OTTAWA (CP) — Just before the playoffs, Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon highlighted NHL players in a feature called “Player most likely to . . . ”
The first player up was long-haired Montreal Canadiens right-winger Dale Weise, and the audience was chuckling at his mugshot even before Fallon made a joke about him looking like the “love child” of actor James Van Der Beek and “Joey from Full House.”
No one laughs at Weise in the playoffs, where he seems to transform from a grinding winger to a specialist in scoring big goals.
The latest came Sunday in Ottawa, when he tied the game with a goal from a scramble in front of the Senators net late in the third period and then scored the winner 8:47 into overtime on a blast from the left faceoff dot that went in off a post.
The victory put Montreal up 3-0 in the bestof-seven Eastern Conference quarter-final, with a chance for a sweep in Game 4 on Wednesday night at Canadian Tire Centre.
Weise has a modest 23 goals in 258 career NHL games, but he has five in 25 playoff matches. Three of his post-season goals were game-winners, including an overtime strike in the opening game of the first round last spring against Tampa Bay. He had two more goals as Montreal upset Boston in the second round.
“That one feels really good,” he said after his Ottawa goal. “That kind of bumped the Tampa one down a bit; just the importance of that series.
“We played so well to get that win, and taking a stranglehold on the series is big.”
Teammate P.K. Subban was impressed with Weise’s knack for scoring at key moments.
“There are guys that have made careers on that, just finding a way to get it done and listen, he’s found a way,” said Subban. “He deserves all the attention he is getting.
“I’d rather take players that score big goals at the right time than score in the games that don’t mean anything.”
For Weise, it’s better to be known for that than the hitter and brawler his previous teams hoped him to be.
The 6-foot-2, 210-pound Winnipeg native was drafted 111th overall by the New York Rangers from the Swift Current Broncos in 2008. He was claimed off waivers by the Vancouver Canucks in 2011, where he was mostly a fourth-liner.
“He’s a guy for big moments,” said Montreal coach Michel Therrien.