NHL News: The Montreal Canadiens Advance To The Stanley Cup Final
The Montreal Canadiens beat the Vegas Golden Knights 3-2 in OT and advance to the Stanley Cup Final against the Islanders or Lightning.
© Jean-Yves Ahern-USA TODAY Sports
Up next
Author
Canadiens advance to the Final with a 3-2 OT win

Elliotte Friedman: “First Canadian team in Final since 2011….Winner of NYI/TB tomorrow night will have home-ice advantage.”

James Mirtle: “Carey Price now 12-5 with a .934 save percentage. One of best runs we’ve seen in the NHL playoffs in last two decades.

Only four goalies that have gone this deep have had better numbers in that span: Jonathan Quick, Tim Thomas, J.S. Giguere and Tuukka Rask.

Jonathan Willis: “The Montreal Canadiens finished second in the NHL during the regular season by 5v5 Corsi% (55%). Only Colorado had a better share of shot attempts at 5v5. ”

Jesse Granger: Mark Stone after the game: “I got skunked in this series. That can’t happen. I’m the captain of this team. I’m the leader of this team. I take a lot of responsibility for what just occurred.”

NHL Media: Numbers after the game.

“* Artturi Lehkonen scores the series-clinching goal 1:39 into overtime as the Canadiens advanced to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 1993. Lehkonen became the ninth player in franchise history to clinch a Stanley Cup Final berth via an overtime goal and first since 1979, when Yvon Lambert in Game 7 of the 1979 Semifinals.

* The Canadiens will face either the Lightning or the Islanders, who contest their series finale tonight at AMALIE Arena. The Canadiens hold a 3-1 record in four all-time postseason series against the Islanders, while the Lightning own a 2-1 edge in its three series against Montreal.

* Montreal became the first Canadian-based team to clinch a berth in the Stanley Cup Final since 2011, when Vancouver did so before losing to Boston in seven games. There were four other instances after 1993 in which a Canadian club reached the championship series (VAN in 1994, CGY in 2004, EDM in 2006 & OTT in 2007), but each team fell to a stateside opponent.

* Montreal is the fourth team in the last 30 years to make the Stanley Cup Final with at least three players age 21 or younger in their lineup. The others: Tampa Bay in 2015 (4), Pittsburgh in 2008 (5) and Florida in 1996.”