With the Pittsburgh Penguins favoured by many to take the Cup once again, the Montreal Canadiens proved the better team as they finished the defending champs off in a thrilling seven game series. The series concluded with a 5-2 victory from the Habs on Wednesday night.

The Canadiens have proven to be the most exciting team to watch in the entire post-season thus far. First they took out the President’s Trophy-winning Washington Capitals in seven games and now they’ve put away last year’s victors in another captivating full series that saw a heroic performance from Jaroslav Halak in goal that will go down in history.

Part of the reason for the success of the Habs against the Penguins was the containment of Sidney Crosby. Crosby was mostly playing against Montreal’s Hal Gill for the series and when the big defender was on him, Sid the Kid was kept quiet.

“I’m not going to sit here and complain about playing Stanley Cup finals and Olympic gold-medal games,” Crosby said. “That’s a good problem to have and you have to deal with it. There are times when it is a grind and you have to deal with it. By no means is that any excuse or any reason for anything. I would never blame that on anything. Those are great things to be a part of and you have to find a way to still produce and be successful.”

The game marked the last game of Pittsburgh Penguins hockey to be played in the Mellon Arena, too.

But for Montrealers, it was all about the victory and all about moving on to the next round. The celebration in Montreal was spectacular, but there’s still a sense of the destiny of this year’s Habs being unfinished. The Canadiens have proved surprising so far, at least for those who didn’t know this was going to happen all along, but the road ahead is still long.

“We have some special guys on this team,” Mike Cammalleri said. “It’s been a lot of fun to be part of … but we’re only halfway there.”

It’s worth noting that many analysts wrote the Habs off entirely in this post-season. The team came into the playoffs in the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference and was expected by many to be a mere warm-up for the Capitals, but they used their small size and speed against the Washington team and pulled off the victory.

They put the same plan to work against the Penguins and isolated the star players with solid defensive play. With Halak to rely on in key moments, the Canadiens were then able to chip away offensively and worked the games down low. The plan didn’t always work, but when it did the Habs were effective at putting the puck in play and popping in a few important, decisive goals.

So now Montreal (and all of us) will have to wait to see what happens when the Philadelphia Flyers face off against the Boston Bruins for a historic game seven of another kind altogether.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

Led by a brilliant performance by Mike Cammalleri, the Montreal Canadiens have forced a seventh game against the Pittsburgh Penguins by defeating them 4-3 on Monday night.

This means that the Penguins will have to try to close out the series at home on Wednesday night, but it also means that the Habs have put the Penguins up against the wall and have drastically changed their fortunes. If they can pull off a series win against the Penguins, the Canadiens will have defeated the defending Cup champions and will have knocked off the President’s Trophy winners all within this year’s post-season.

Defenceman Jaroslav Spacek was back in the line-up on Monday night and he contributed with a goal. Maxim Lapierre was there with the game-winner.

The Canadiens entered the playoffs as the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference, but they’ve more than proved their mettle by taking each of their series’ so far into the seventh game. Thanks to stellar goaltending by Jaroslav Halak and a general team effort that includes loads of shot-blocking and solid defensive play, the Habs actually look like they have a chance to seal the deal against the Penguins.

In fact, I’m not so sure that the Canadiens should be considered the underdogs anymore.

Sure, they’re missing the presence of Hal Gill. Gill was able to shut down Sidney Crosby for a lot of the series and his absence on Monday allowed Sid to score a goal to end his six-game scoring slump.

The crowd of 21,273 was behind their Habs from the get-go, even chanting and cheering throughout an entire television time-out after Cammalleri tied the game in the second period. The fans were truly part of the game, giving the home team an advantage as they worked to close it out.

With Halak playing like a man possessed and the rest of the team providing solid support, it looks like the Habs can accomplish the series win going into Wednesday night’s Game 7. Sure, they’ll have to deal with a rowdy Pittsburgh crowd and a fired-up Penguins club, but they may have done just enough to rattle Crosby and Co. to pull off what many thought was the impossible.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

The Pittsburgh Penguins and Montreal Canadiens series has taken on a few bumps and bruises already, with both teams losing key players early on.

The Habs will be without star defenceman Andrei Markov after he suffered an injury during the first period of the first game of the playoff series. He was hit by Matt Cooke and fell awkwardly. When Markov was helped off the ice, he wasn’t putting any weight on his right leg.

The Canadiens have gone 14-20-3 without Markov, so this could be a significant blow to the team. He has since returned to Montreal for treatment.

The Penguins will be without Jordan Staal. He is also out indefinitely after getting cut by Montreal defenceman P.K. Subban’s skate. Staal underwent surgery on Friday night to repair the severed tendon on the top of his foot, but things might be looking up as head coach Dan Bylsma seemed optimistic. It is possible that Staal could join the team again should the Penguins make it to the Conference Finals.

The injury suffered by Staal is similar to the one suffered by Markov at the beginning of the regular season. Markov missed 35 games.

In any event, both teams will clearly miss these players. Staal’s contributions on the penalty kill are considerable and the team will have to work hard to fill the hole left behind by the Selke Trophy nominee’s absence.

The Habs find themselves in quite the predicament, too, and will need to shuffle the deck to fill Markov’s spot. It’s already been announced that both Marc-Andre Bergeron and P.K. Subban will play as defencemen.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

The Eastern Conference has a number of wild possibilities for the post-season and the second round continues those rumblings with gusto. Montreal’s heroic overtaking of the Washington Capitals was one of the big stories from the opening round, but will the Habs and Halak have any gas left in the tank to take on the defending champs? And will the Flyers and Bruins put on as physical a series as I’m hoping they will? There’s only one way to find out!

Here are your matchups for the Eastern Conference:

Boston Bruins vs. Philadelphia Flyers: The regular season series is split between these two teams and this one can be hard to pick. Marc Savard’s return may boost the Bruins somewhat, but it also runs the risk of giving them something extra to be concerned about. If the Flyers choose to zero in on Boston’s top offensive talent, it could throw the Bruins off of their game considerably. Both of these teams stress physical play with plenty of defensive coverage, so this could be one of the closest matchups in the second round. Boston has a slight edge in special teams, which could make all the difference in the end.

My Prediction: Bruins in 6.

Montreal Canadiens vs. Pittsburgh Penguins: Pittsburgh owns the season series 3-1, but the Habs are the shocking story of the first round. With Jaroslav Halak in net, the Canadiens are one of the most unpredictable teams of the year. They’ll need to tighten up defensively if they expect to stand a chance against Pittsburgh’s balanced attack, but at this point it looks like Halak can pretty much hoist the Cup himself. Crosby and Co. are hungry to repeat, however, and that makes them a tough team to suit up against. Role players will again be the difference makers and Hal Gill will be looking to make an impact against his former team.

My Prediction: Penguins in 7.

As always, feel free to list your picks in the comments section.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

The playoffs are heating up and two more teams have advanced to the second round of the playoffs. The San Jose Sharks knocked off the Colorado Avalanche and the Pittsburgh Penguins dealt with the pesky Ottawa Senators tonight, narrowing the playoff picture considerably.

The Penguins came out sluggish in their Saturday night game against the Senators and fans in Ottawa started to think that their team could win it. With the Penguins down 3-1 going into the third period, fans could smell it in the nation’s capital. But it was not to be, as the Penguins rallied back led by Matt Cooke of all people to eventually win the game 4-3 in overtime.

Pens captain and Canada’s golden boy Sidney Crosby didn’t exactly have the best of nights, either, and it was largely up to secondary scoring to get the job done. Pascal Dupuis eventually potted the winner, perhaps closing the deal after telling Senators goalie Pascal Leclaire “We’re coming” after the comeback began. The Penguins outshot the Senators in the third period by a total of 18-4 and it was clear Ottawa was on the ropes.

It was revealed after the game that heroic Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson had been playing through a stomach problem, too.

Over in Colorado, the Avalanche were trying to climb uphill to make their way back into the series but couldn’t come up with a win in the sixth game. Joe Pavelski was the big hero for the Sharks, as he potted two goals including the winner.

With a 5-2 final, the Sharks looked prepared but still struggled at times against the faster Avalanche team. Colorado gave them plenty of trouble and the Sharks had to rely on depth to get it done. The line of Pavelski, Devin Setoguchi and Ryan Clowe was by far the team’s most effective against Colorado keeper Craig Anderson.

The Sharks now have to look ahead and hope to be able to make it past the second round, a feat they’ve only managed once in franchise history. Despite strong regular seasons, San Jose has almost always struggled in the post-season.

Both the Penguins and Sharks will now have some time to rest and regroup. The Sharks were the first team in the West to advance, while the Penguins join the Flyers waiting for their next opponents out East.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

Matt Carkner is the hero in Ottawa, at least for tonight, as his goal in the third overtime of Thursday’s game kept the Senators alive in their playoff series against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The goal forced a sixth game in the Eastern Conference series and gave the Senators some much-needed confidence, marking the longest game in Senators franchise history in the process and second longest in the history of Pittsburgh’s Mellon Arena.

“Three overtimes and we knew it wasn’t going to be a pretty goal,” Carkner said. “I think it deflected off someone - I didn’t even know how it went in - but it’s just a great feeling right now.”

The name of the game for the Senators is toughness, with guys like Carkner and Chris Neil making statements all over the ice. They may be considered underdogs against the Penguins, but the team is proving that they’re capable of giving the defending champs something to worry about.

In forcing a sixth game, the Senators get to return to Ottawa and get to take on the Penguins on their home turf. It’ll be a difficult matchup, to be sure, but the crowd will be off the chain and the Senators will be pushing harder than perhaps ever before.

“There’s a lot of belief and trust in this room,” said the Senators’ Matt Cullen. “We maintain a positive attitude and good feeling in here that we’re still in it.”

Head coach Cory Clouston deserves a lot of the credit right now, as his resolve and belief in his team has kept the energy good in the room. He was tasked with repairing a lot of reputations this season and managed to make something work out of a situation many thought impossible. Now the Senators look renewed and ready to rock, so Clouston deserves more than a few rounds of applause.

But the series isn’t over and the Senators still have an uphill climb. Regardless of the belief in the room and the team, it’s hard to battle back. They may have earned themselves a stay of execution for the time being, but Ottawa will really have to continue to grind the Penguins down if they hope to win the series.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

In watching the Pittsburgh Penguins face off against the Vancouver Canucks and getting decidedly trounced for their efforts, I started to wonder about Evgeni Malkin. He wasn’t much of an offensive force, despite scoring a goal, and his dangerous hit on Willie Mitchell left me thinking that something must be eating the sniper.

Sure enough, Malkin finds himself mired in a pretty significant slump. He ranks in the 20s in the scoring race and is producing at a lower rate than his rookie campaign. Malkin, before his goal against Vancouver, hadn’t scored since a pre-Christmas hat trick. A recent four-game stretch saw him go an embarrassing minus-8.

“It’s a tough situation but I’m learn now,” said Malkin to the media scrum in Vancouver without the use of a translator. “I’m learn it’s two tough years we play finals. Different situation now. Not scoring now and a little bit nervous now but it’s team game. Coaches help me and we sit and look video and my shifts. It’s tough but head up, not stop and work in practice. I’m playing little bit better.”

In about a month, Malkin will suit up for Russia at the Olympics. He noted that he’s looking forward to playing with his friends, Alex Ovechkin and Ilya Kovalchuk, at the tournament. And he went out of his way to ensure that he wouldn’t be calling his teammate and pal Sidney Crosby a “friend” when the puck drops for the Games. “No, no, not in Olympics,” chuckled Malkin. “Of course, still here but not in Olympics.”

Still, one has to wonder what’s going on in Malkin’s world. Poolies would have considered him a sure thing to produce points in the top portion of the league’s scoring race and few would have predicted that Malkin would sit 23rd in league scoring prior to Saturday’s game.

Malkin will make $9 million this year alone in Pittsburgh and is in the first year of a five-year $43.5 million contract.

Some are suggesting that Malkin’s lack of suitable linemates could be part of the problem for his lower production. Playing with Jordan Staal and Luca Caputi appears to have provided Malkin with some options, but not enough to really boost the forward to the scoring pace he should be hitting.

There is also Malkin’s shoulder to consider. He missed a couple of weeks due to shoulder trouble at the beginning of November and came back to the game before the injury had completely healed. Perhaps not taking a full 21 days to get things right hurt Malkin’s chances at putting the puck in the net.

Regardless of the reasoning, it’s no secret that Malkin is experiencing some difficulty in Pittsburgh. It may well be a passing issue, with the Olympics giving him a boost and the playoff rush providing him with more motivation to get his ducks in a row. Even so, it’ll be interesting to see how he approaches the finish line on the season and how poolies respond to his lack of production.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

The Toronto Star awards the Lou Marsh Award annually to Canada’s outstanding athlete and this year’s winner is none other than Sidney Crosby. The Pittsburgh Penguins superstar was voted on by a panel of sports editors, reporters and broadcasters.

At 22 years of age, it’s no secret that Crosby is fast becoming one of Canada’s most popular athletes. He already has a Stanley Cup on his resume and currently sits fourth in NHL scoring with 38 points this season.

Crosby’s been down this road before, too, winning the Lou Marsh Award in 2007.

The panel features representatives from the Star, CBC, The Fan 590, Globe and Mail, National Post, Sportsnet, TSN, Toronto Sun and The Canadian Press.

Also in the running for this year’s Lou Marsh Award were downhill world champion John Kucera, NBA star Steve Nash, doubles tennis pro Daniel Nestor, speedskater Christine Nesbitt and mixed martial arts fighter Georges St-Pierre.

Obviously the Lou Marsh Award is a nice thing for Crosby here, giving him even the slightest boost going into the 2010 Olympics where much is expected of the young star forward. While piling up accolades from the press is one thing, I’m sure Sid’s real focus is on nothing less than a golden performance in Vancouver.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

The scene at the Stanley Cup Finals after the game tends to be chaotic and this year was no different.

Pittsburgh Penguins team captain and superstar Sidney Crosby isn’t apologizing for an alleged snub of the Detroit Red Wings during the post-game celebration of Game 7 of the Finals. With some Red Wings leaving the ice before he joined the handshake line, it was interesting to note the backlash against Crosby coming from Red Wings forward Kris Draper.

“Nick (Lidstrom) was waiting and waiting, and Crosby didn’t come over to shake his hand. That’s ridiculous, especially as their captain, and make sure you write that I said that!” Draper told the Associated Press.

During the post-game celebration, Crosby was ushered around to various media outlets and took part in celebrating the Stanley Cup victory with his teammates. He was also the last person to join the line, by which time many key Red Wings players, including Lidstrom and Draper, had already left the ice. Somehow, Crosby received the blame for not doing the honours.

“I had no intentions of trying to skip guys and not shake their hands,” Crosby said. “I think that was a pretty unreasonable comment. The guys I shook their hands with, they realized I made the attempt. If I could shake half their team’s hands, I’m sure the other half wasn’t too far behind. I don’t know what happened there. I have no regrets. I’ve been on both sides of it, and it’s not fun being on the losing end. But it doesn’t change anything. You still shake hands no matter what.”

The comment from Draper is, in my opinion, more than unreasonable. It’s downright petty and rude. The reaction of some of the Red Wings players to leave the ice before the handshakes were fully completed, even if Crosby was somewhat late in arriving, simply reflects a sort of “sore loser” mentality. It was a classless display and it was even more classless to somehow blame their exit on Crosby.

Crosby shook hands with more than half of the Red Wings roster, including coach Babcock and goalie Chris Osgood.

It is interesting to note the contrast between this incident and last year’s. The entire Penguins roster waited around for the Red Wings to finish celebrating and reach the handshake line, but this year the shoe was on the other foot and the Wings acted like spoiled children not getting their way. It’s a situation that probably would have been largely ignored were it not for Draper’s idiotic post-game comments.

Grow up.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

In true heart-pounding fashion, the Pittsburgh Penguins rose to the challenge and defeated the favourite Detroit Red Wings to win the Stanley Cup. That they did so without the services of Sidney Crosby for more than half the game was remarkable, too, but for the most part this win was about character and heart.

Winning their third Cup in franchise history in Detroit’s building couldn’t have been an easy task for these young Pens and it almost didn’t happen. Goalie Marc-Andre Fleury made a critical save in the dying seconds of the game to keep his team’s 2-1 lead and Maxime Talbot provided both Pittsburgh goals.

In the end, it wound up being about depth and role players for the Penguins. They were able to get pucks deep and play hard along the boards against the veteran Wings, giving their team and their young players the extra boost over the edge necessary to get the better of the prepared, skilled Detroit team.

Evgeni Malkin earned the Conn Smythe Trophy after scoring 36 points in the post-season. He is the first Russian-born player to win the award.

Crosby missed about half of the game after being clipped by Wings centre Johan Franzen along the boards in the second period. He returned for only one shift of the final period and had to sit on the bench while his team pulled off the victory. “I don’t recommend anyone trying watch the Stanley Cup final, Game 7 from the bench. It’s a tough situation,” Crosby said after raising the Cup as the youngest player to do so.

The Penguins also become the first road team since the ‘71 Habs to begin a Stanley Cup final down two games and yet still win it all in the seventh and deciding game away from home.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.