With all of the talk after Game One of the Montreal/Ottawa first-round playoff series, Game Two promised to be an absolute slugfest. Senators Coach Dave Cameron hinted at possible retaliation against a Canadiens star player if P.K. Subban wasn’t suspended by the NHL for his slash on Mark Stone. He then threatened to dress Chris Neil, Ottawa’s notorious enforcer, if Stone was unable to play. Thankfully, Stone was able to play and cooler heads prevailed.
The game began much as the first game did, with strong physical play in every zone, although surprisingly less chippy than Game One. There was still plenty of hitting, but most of the physicality was confined to the time between the whistles. The teams exchanged few scoring chances, with both goalies equal to the task. Ottawa held a 14-10 advantage in shots on goal, but only one found the back of the net. Clarke MacArthur took a pass from Mark Stone and walked into the slot, burying a wrist shot from the right wing side at 18:42 of the first period, giving Ottawa a 1-0 lead.
Montreal took control of the game in the second period, limiting Ottawa to three shots on goal while scoring on two of their fourteen shots. Max Pacioretty, playing in his first game back from an upper body injury, got the Canadiens on the board with a power-play marker at 7:18 of the second period, taking a feed from David Desharnais and firing a wrist shot past Senators goalie Andrew Hammond.
P.K. Subban gave the Canadiens a lead at 16:30 on a play that seemed to unfold in slow motion. A cross-ice feed from Devante Smith-Pelly caromed off the boards and Subban had to wait to unleash a devastating one-timer that narrowly missed Hammond’s ear before finding its way under the crossbar.
The teams traded scoring chances, and the goalies traded highlight-reel saves, through the third period until the 13:25 mark when Senators rookie Patrick Wiercioch took a feed from Stone and walked out of the corner to tuck a power-play goal between Price’s legs and tie the game at 2-2. The game would remain deadlocked through the rest of regulation time, despite the teams putting up 13 shots (Montreal) and 11 shots (Ottawa).
Carey Price picked up win to push Habs to 2-0 series win – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
It only took 3:40 of playing time and 5 shots on goal for this one to be decided in overtime. Canadiens forward Alex Galchenyuk picked up a rebound and fired a turn-around shot that eluded Hammond for the game-winner, sending the home fans into a frenzy and giving Montreal a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.
Senators forward Mark Stone, despite his injury, managed two assists to pace Ottawa, while Canadiens center David Desharnais matched his total by assisting on Montreal’s first two goals. Canadiens goalie Carey Price stopped 29 of 31 shots for the win, while Hammond stopped 39 of 42 in the loss.
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