(Sports Network) - The eighth-seeded Montreal Canadiens have pushed the defending Stanley Cup champions to the brink in the Eastern Conference semifinals and it all comes down to tonight, when the Habs visit the Pittsburgh Penguins for a decisive Game 7 at Mellon Arena.
7:00 P.M., Game 7: Penguins, Canadiens Dual For Playoff Lives
This is the second straight Game 7 for the Canadiens, who shocked the top- seeded Washington Capitals in the opening round, taking the series with a 2-1 road victory in the final game. The Habs tied this current best-of-seven set at three games apiece thanks to a 4-3 victory over the visiting Pens in Monday's Game 6.
The Penguins are 7-4 all-time in Game 7s, while Montreal is 12-8 in this situation.
This is the first Game 7 to be staged at Mellon Arena since June 1, 1996, when the Penguins lost to Florida in the Eastern Conference finals, and tonight could also be the final game ever at the Arena, which is scheduled to be replaced by Consol Energy Center at the start of next season.
The oldest building in the NHL, the Igloo opened in 1961 and since the fall of 1967 -- when the Penguins entered the NHL as an expansion club -- it has been the only building the team has called home.
The Penguins are just 3-3 as the host in the 2010 playoffs after posting a strong 25-12-4 mark on home ice during the regular season. Montreal is 4-3 as the visiting club in this postseason, but was just 19-17-5 as the guest prior to the playoffs.
While Montreal needed to overcome a 3-1 series deficit to beat the Caps in Round 1, this series has been more predictable. The Pens and Habs have alternated wins so far in this series, with Pittsburgh taking the odd-numbered games and Montreal notching wins in Games 2, 4 and 6.
The upstart Canadiens notched Monday's victory thanks in large part to Michael Cammalleri's third two-goal game of these playoffs. Jaroslav Halak also withstood a 37-shot barrage to lead the Habs to a 4-3 win and set up tonight's winner-take-all scenario.
Cammalleri continued his superb postseason and now has a league-high 11 goals to go with five assists in 13 playoff games this spring.
“You go through times when it goes in, but sometimes it doesn’t. You just keep playing. As a goal scorer, it goes back to your teammates. It’s all about the passes and the plays, that you’re getting the puck (on),” said Cammalleri.
Maxim Lapierre added a nifty unassisted tally in the third that turned out to be the game-winner when the Penguins scored with 1:24 remaining.
Montreal defenseman Jaroslav Spacek was inserted into the lineup in place of an injured Hal Gill after sitting the last nine games. Spacek, who was sidelined with an inner-ear infection, netted a go-ahead goal late in the second period on Monday. Meanwhile, Gill, who suffered a lacerated left leg in Game 6, is expected to be a game-time decision tonight. Gill won a Stanley Cup with Pittsburgh last year before jumping ship to Montreal as a free agent last summer.
For Pittsburgh, Sidney Crosby posted his first goal of the series and Kris Letang scored a power-play goal. Bill Guerin scored to get the Pens within one just outside the final minute of play with Marc-Andre Fleury on the bench in favor of the extra attacker, but the visitors couldn't find the equalizer. Fleury finished with 21 saves.
In addition to winning last year's Cup, the Penguins are the two-time defending conference champions and are trying to become the first Eastern Conference club to reach three straight conference finals since Boston achieved the feat from 1990-92. Back then both the Penguins and Bruins played as part of the Wales Conference.
Montreal is attempting to become the first Eastern Conference club to reach the conference finals as a No. 8 seed since the current playoff format was adopted in 1994. The only eighth-seeded Western team to reach the conference finals since then was the 2006 Edmonton Oilers, who made it all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals before losing to Carolina.
The Habs and Pens have met just once before in the playoffs and that was back in the opening round of the 1998 postseason when Montreal notched a six-game series victory.
See More:
