Game 6 one hot ticket for fans in Montreal
Want to see the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night?
Drive to Montreal, convince Quebec border guards it’s essential travel and then maybe sell your car once there for the coveted 2,500 tickets for the first NHL game in Canada with fans in regular seats since the pandemic began 14 months ago.
Enough diehards in Leafs Nation have the coin to make that happen. Hey, it’s merely a do-or-die game in the two teams’ first playoff meeting in 42 years, forced by Thursday’s 4-3 season-saving Habs’ overtime win in Toronto. They’ll pay for a chance to finally see a game live again, in hopes of witnessing their side win its first series in 17 years, having never beaten the Habs in playoffs since 1967 and only eliminating their arch rivals in their barn four times in 103 years.
Prices for a single seat on Ticketmaster were approaching the $8,000 range as of Friday with service charges. When the Canadiens first put the seats up as Quebec partially lifted its public events ban, they had three modest price ranges, $190, $260 and $330. The club let a few health-care workers in private boxes for Games 3 and 4.
Leafs forward Jason Spezza, who spent much of his career as an Ottawa Senator surrounded and shouted down by Leafs fans in his own building, expects patches of blue and white to somehow get in amid the 10 socially distanced sections of 250 people each.
“I wouldn’t be surprised,” Spezza laughed on Friday. “I’m sure the Canadiens will try to control who gets the tickets. But it never ceases to amaze me the support the Leafs get on the road.
“Just having people in the building is a great step towards what the future may hold in terms of getting back to normal. It’s going to add a little more to the excitement of the games, which we welcome as players.”
VIVE LES CANADIENS
The Leafs took a pounding from critics for not putting away the Habs in Game 5, but teams in the supposedly weak North Division often showed their best profile when least expected.
Winnipeg, given up for dead in early May, swept the Oilers and now await the winner of this series, while Montreal made the most of limited scoring resources and outwilled the Leafs when it counted. Carey Price made big saves, the Habs were up 3-0 early, got pucks deep to deny rushes by Toronto, avoided turnovers and took just one penalty.
“We raised the bar higher,” said forward Tomas Tatar. “We were grinding, playing in the O-zone, exiting the D-zone fairly fast. It was tight at the end, but we kept pressure up the whole game, stayed above their best players. We can still get better. We know who we are and what we can do. The job is still not done. Hopefully, there are two games ahead.”
D-LIGHTFUL
Toronto’s defence has outpointed Montreal’s 10-0 so far and that could ultimately be the difference in winning this series.
“Part of it is the nature of the playoffs,” Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe said. “It’s so hard to get to the net. Shooting from greater distances, trying to get traffic, it’s an easier way for defencemen to get involved.”
What Keefe would prefer to see cashed in are all those breakaways and 2-on-1s to date.
“High-end chances, we haven’t necessarily capitalized on and that’s why some of our forward production is down. But again (Thursday), we find a way to score three and that should be enough to win in playoffs. For me, you don’t have to look any further than they scored three unassisted goals (he counts Alex Galchenyuk’s giveaway to Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki with the other two).”
THAT’S OUR BOY
This series is big news back in Stevens Point, Wisc., where parents Paul and Kelly are following Cole Caufield’s role in Canada’s oldest playoff rivalry.
Paul, an arena manager and former NCAA player, is not unaware of the divide, born in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.
“He lived in that area a short time and we’re obviously a hockey family,” Cole said. “They’re my biggest supporters and wish they could be at our games. But they’ll be cheering at home.”
Caufield’s late grandfather, Wayne, played minor pro in The Soo in the early 1970s and prior to that for the ‘63-64 Philadelphia Ramblers of the Eastern League, whose ranks included 325-penalty minute defenceman John Brophy.
LOOSE LEAFS
The last chance for a Toronto-montreal Stanley Cup final, before the conferences were realigned, was 28 years ago Saturday when Wayne Gretzky and the L.A. Kings beat the Leafs in Game 7 of the Western final ... Last time the Leafs eliminated the Habs on home ice was April 9, 1964 in Game 7 of the semifinals ... The Leafs don’t want to contemplate it, but they were up 3-1 in 1987 in the Norris Division final and the Detroit Red Wings came all the way back ... Caufield has received a couple of encouraging tweets from fellow University of Wisconsin grad J.J. Watt, a defensive end with the Arizona Cardinals and 10 years Caufield’s senior. “When you’re a Badger, you’re kind of a family, no matter what your sport,” Cole said. “I thank him for his support” ... The giveaway that sent Caufield and Suzuki away for the overtime winner inadvertently came from the only other Wisconsin-born player in the series. Galchenyuk’s father was in the minors in Milwaukee ... Bottom six forward Jake Evans could be back for Montreal in Game 6, but Artturi Lehkonen remains out.