Canadiens squeak by the Senators 4-3 in playoff opener
MONTREAL— Brian Flynn’s goal was the winner at the end of a wild second period that saw five goals scored and star defenceman P.K. Subban ejected for slashing as the Montreal Canadiens downed the Ottawa Senators 4-3 in the opening game of their NHL playoff series on Wednesday night.
Montreal takes a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference series into Game 2 on Friday night.
The emotion-filled match featured the first goals as Canadiens by lateseason pick-ups Flynn and Torrey Mitchell, while Tomas Plekanec and Lars Eller also scored for Montreal.
Milan Michalek, Kyle Turris and Mika Zibanejad scored for Ottawa.
The Bell Centre crowd was rocking until Michalek got credit for the opening goal at 12:25, which was put into the net by Montreal defenceman Andrei Markov. A rebound off the end boards got past two players and Markov tried to tuck it into Carey Price’s pads when it went in.
But it was a shaky game for Ottawa goalie Andrew Hammond, who got his team into the playoffs by going 20-1-2 down the stretch. The game broke open when the Canadiens scored twice in a 15-second span of the second frame, the fastest two playoff goals by Montreal since May 8,1998, with Mitchell and Plekanec scoring.
But only six seconds later, Eller went off for slashing. Seven seconds after that, Subban took a chop at Mark Stone’s hands and the Senators scoring leader went down in apparent pain and rushed off for treatment. Subban was slapped with a five-minute major and game misconduct.
The Senators scored twice through Turris and Zibanejad and conceded a short-handed goal to Eller during the penalty.
Then Flynn came out of a corner and slid the puck past Hammond to give Montreal the lead with 2:43 left in the period.
Stone, who went into the playoffs on a nine-game point streak, returned to play, left again late in the second period, then returned midway through the third frame. EXCITED ROOKIES: Canadiens coach Michel Therrien spoke with 19-year-old rookie Jacob de la Rose to see exactly where the youngster’s head was at heading into his first NHL playoff experience.
“I just wanted to make sure he’s excited,” Therrien said before the opening game of their first-round series. “For sure, he’s a bit nervous, like all the guys playing the first NHL playoff game of their career.
“We have some guys who will take their first step. For some guys from the Sens, it’s going to be the same.”
Players like de la Rose and defenceman Greg Pateryn were entering their first NHL post-season for Montreal, just like Ottawa youngsters like Mark Stone, Mike Hoffman, Curtis Lazar and Cody Ceci.
The Bell Centre can be a particularly loud and intimidating place for players on both teams but it’s also an experience they’re unlikely to forget.
“I’m really excited for it,” said de la Rose. “I’m still going to play the same type of hockey as I did in the regular season. I’m not going to change anything.”
A forward from Swedish club Leksands, de la Rose made a seamless jump to the NHL after playing 37 AHL games for Hamilton. Now his game will be tested under playoff speed and intensity.
“His parents are going to be there this weekend, so it’s going to be pretty emotional for him,” said Therrien. “The only advice I told him was that he’s played big games in the past and it’s not going to be any different.”