OH BABY! 😱😱😱
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) May 30, 2021
JESPERI KOTKANIEMI ENDS IT IN OT TO FORCE GAME 7! #ItsOn pic.twitter.com/w6kdPd6Z5V
Jesperi Kotkaniemi scored at 15:15 of overtime to tie the series at 3-3. Montréal scored its first power play goal of the series and then added another PP goal after the Maple Leafs challenged for goaltender interference. Toronto tied the game 2-2 with all 4 goals coming in the 3rd period.
Kotkaniemi brought us to Game 7. The 7 pm start will be on CBC and Rogers Sportsnet in Canada and CNBC in the United States.
CHILLS.
— Hockey Night in Canada (@hockeynight) May 29, 2021
Oh how we missed Canadian fans back in the rink 🇨🇦🏒 pic.twitter.com/DAzOGv7Cuy
Did the 2,500 fans make a difference. Difficult to argue against them. There were some blue and white in the crowd alongside the bleu, blanc, et rouge.
They were loud during the anthem, throughout the game, and especially in overtime. Chants of "Go Habs Go" and "Carey" for Carey Price were rather loud.
Game 7 will have 0 fans. Not likely to have fans in Toronto or Winnipeg anytime soon. The only way more fans will be allowed is if Montréal wins Game 7.
The resale prices got ridiculous even if you are a born cynic. The range we saw was $1,500-$12,000 per ticket and you had to buy 2 tickets. We don't know the original cost of the tickets, which would have been offered to season ticket holders.
William Nylander provided necessary secondary scoring with 4 goals in the first 4 games. This was in sharp contrast to 5 goals in 25 playoff games from 2016-2020. Then again, Nylander didn't score in Games 5-6. Alex Galchenyuk had a goal and 2 assists in Game 4.
Nikolaj Ehlers had 2 goals for Winnipeg in his return to the lineup in Game 3. Mark Scheifele had 2 goals in Game 4 for Winnipeg.
Winning in the playoffs means help from stars and not-so stars.
CAUFIELD ➡️ SUZUKI 🚨
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) May 28, 2021
The @CanadiensMTL force Game 6 in OT! #ItsOn pic.twitter.com/MCiznGekzu
Game 4 could have featured Jake Allen vs. Frederik Andersen. The Montréal and Toronto backup goalies have proven competent at times. The regular season often features backup goalies on an end of back-to-back games. Allen filled in well for Price and Andersen used to be the starter.
Edmonton and Winnipeg went with their starting goalies in back-to-back games that ended with triple overtime.
The logic of using the backup goalie gets tossed in the playoffs. A backup starts because of injury or incompetence; unwritten hockey law.
The Canadian final will also have a back-to-back between Games 3 and 4.
Giving Allen and Andersen a start could keep them fresh in case they are needed. The only way that might have happened is if the coaches met and agreed and didn't cross their fingers behind their back. That would not happen.
2021 Stanley Cup playoffs scoreboard
2021 NHL Stanley Cup playoffs preview for Canadian teams
We have had 2 anthems so far, both from Montréal. Game 4 came because of the 1-year anniversary of the death of George Floyd. Alexandre Sylvestre sang the Montréal version of O Canada (French/French/English). Game 6 was almost certainly due to the 2,500 fans in the stands. NBC used to care a bit about anthems but that feels like a long time ago.
There are a lot of ways to encapsulate the Toronto-Montréal rivalry. The Hockey Sweater is an animated version of a Roch Carrier short story. The kid in Quebec thinks he is getting a replacement Montréal Canadiens hockey sweater. Instead, "Mr. Eaton" sends him a Toronto Maple Leafs sweater.
You've heard the stat of how the teams faced each other 15 previous times and 13 times the winner went on to win the Stanley Cup. Often, the teams met in the Stanley Cup final in the Original 6 days.
2021 Stanley Cup notebook: Winnipeg Jets pull off the sweep
We noted the Tragically Hip in the last Stanley Cup notebook. Their song Fifty-Mission Cap mentions Maple Leafs defenceman Bill Barilko, who scored the Stanley Cup winning goal in 1951. Bill Barilko died that summer in a plane crash after a fishing trip.
As the story goes, Toronto was supposedly under a curse since Barilko had never been found. The Maple Leafs did win the Stanley Cup in 1962; 6 weeks later, the plane wreckage was found.
CanadianCrossing.com NHL coverage
May 25 Game 4 Toronto @ Montréal 7:30p Alex Faust/Joe Micheletti
May 27 Game 5 Montréal at Toronto 7p Brendan Burke/Dominic Moore
May 29 Game 6 Toronto @ Montréal 7:30p Alex Faust/Dominic Moore
May 31 Game 7 Montréal at Toronto 7p Alex Faust/Dominic Moore
Joe Micheletti would be the top national colour analyst in the United States if he didn't have a day job with the New York Rangers. Micheletti does his homework, gives sharp analysis, and understands the concept of a national telecast.
As we saw in the 2018 playoffs, Pat Micheletti, brother of Joe, is pretty good too. That April 15, 2018 coverage with Gord Miller and the Micheletti brothers was one of the best NBCSN telecasts that didn't involve Ray Ferraro. ESPN and TNT: consider either Micheletti.
Alex Trebek was a fan of Alex Faust. Felt like Faust pronounced Le Centre Bell like Trebek would have done. Merci.
I used to wonder if there was little difference between Faust and Brendan Burke. Burke, who called the April 7 game between these teams, is good but Faust is better. Moore also called Game 2; good but not Micheletti. Moore has a habit of saying, "I was going to say." It's a crutch that will disappear over time.
NBC didn't send any advance notice as to who would call Game 5.
NHL notebook: Waiting to start the Stanley Cup chase in Canada
CBC had the Las Vegas @ Colorado game last night and tonight's Game 7. We will track the CBC games in tomorrow's second-round preview. CBC will pad the Canadian final with other U.S. games.
Twitter captures: @Sportsnet; @hockeynight; @Sportsnet
photo credit: Rogers Sportsnet
video credit: NFB
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