Montreal Canadiens 3 – Pittsburgh Penguins 6, Game One: The Script

It took four power plays for Pittsburgh to burst Montreal’s bubble. The reigning champion seized game one and the lead in the Eastern Conference Semifinals after beating the Canadiens 6-3.

It wasn't a bad game for the Habs. In fact, they kept rolling the upsetting trend by taking the lead early in the game with a wrist shot by PK Subban, his first career NHL goal.

But then, the Penguins played like true champions, like a team filled with talent and great leadership from his owner to the last player on the roster.

Sergei Gonchar evened things up with a slapshot slightly deflected by Tomas Plekanec. First power play, first goal.

Jordal Staal put the second on the board for the Penguins midway through the first. The center fired a bullet from the slot past Halak. The goalie’s poise started to crumble from that moment until he was yanked in the third.

Nearly three minutes into the second, Kris Letang extended the lead for the home team with a snapshot, an almost identical shot to the one on Staal’s goal.

Michael Cammalleri responded with a laser, top shelf, after a great play by Scott Gomez from behind the net. No.13 now has six goals and 11 points in the playoffs.

But Craig Adams killed Montreal’s momentum with less than two minutes in the second. The winger cashed in a great pass from Pascal Dupuis.

In the same way Letang copied Staal’s goal, Alex Goligoski cloned Adams’ play to put Penguin’s fifth on the board, only three minutes into the third. Halak went to the dressing room and Carey Price took over the pipes.

But by then Pittsburgh was in safe territory. They only shot three times on Price, even though Brian Gionta narrowed the gap with a slapshot at 12:29 with Montreal on the power play.

The Habs showed signs of life but Bill Guerin wrapped up the game with an empty-netter.

Now, here’s the game’s Script:

The main characters:

The Hero: The Pittsburgh Penguins

Thirteen out of the 18 players in the Penguins’ roster scored at least one point. That’s how elite franchises win. Even though Sidney Crosby was the first star of the game, No.87 didn’t need to pull tricks out of his sleeve in order to seize the win. They all played their role, scored when needed and resisted the pressure when Montreal threatened their lead –not a big threat, though-.

Pittsburgh only needed two power plays to surpass Washington’s numbers in the first round (1-33). In the end they scored four times with the man-advantage, making look the famous Habs defensive’s wall from round one like nothing more than a short and fragile hedge.

The Villain: Jaroslav Halak

He’s not the only one to blame but he has to take it as the leader of the team going into this round. The bar was set sky high but Jaro looked tired, both physically and mentally, as so the rest of the team did. Halak stopped 15 of 20 shots before he was pulled in the third.

He was constantly screened and Pittsburgh was smart enough to repeat the formula used by Washington to win games two and three: shoot high, top corner.

The goalie has one assignment pending: to show he is capable of handling the workload and a tight schedule in order to develop into an elite goaltender. Until then, it's healthier to put the Roy or Dryden comparisons on hold.

The Sidekid: PK Subban

The 20-year-old was the brightest note of the night for the Canadiens. Subban scored his first NHL goal with a wrister from the point, but more important, he stepped up when Markov went down. He showed confidence without being reckless, taking the risk to attack but making use of his brain.

The way he carried the puck from one end to the other and the coolness he showed in a one-on-one against Crosby are two of the many sight that fill the hearts of the Montreal fanbase with hope and joy. The Canadiens have a superstar in the making.

The Extra: Andrei Kostitsyn

Andrei’s mind seemed to be far, far away from the game as he ended up with no shots on goal and only 10:30 of TOI. He just floated with no determination, no aggressiveness, forcing Coach Jacques Martin to limit his role to only 13 shifts, half of what his line mates, Tomas Plekanec and Michael Cammalleri, played.

The way he cleared the puck during a Montreal change that led to Pittsburgh’s fourth goal attests the lethargic performance of the Belarusian.

Key moment in the plot: Andrei Markov’s injury

Matt Cooke hit Andrei Markov 11:46 into the first period. The defender fell awkwardly into the boards with an expression of pain on his face. He didn’t return and was listed with a “lower-body injury”. He returned to Montreal Friday night likely to be examined by the doctors.

For the Habs it was a recurrent nightmare. They lost Markov in regular season opener with a severed tendon, an injury that forced him to miss almost two and a half months of action.

Markov hasn’t been stellar in the playoffs so far -six hits, 18 blocked shots and four points- but his leadership and experience have a huge impact in Montreal’s game. The fate of the series might depend on how badly he’s injured.

The Quotes:

“We made plays and capitalized on the chances we had. That's what it came down to. I think we gave ourselves a good chance of doing that though.” – Sidney Crosby.

“I think after the fifth goal, I just felt like we needed a change. You want to change something and try to change the momentum of the game.” – Jacques Martin, on pulling Halak.

“There's a reason why they hoisted the Cup last year. You make mistakes and they're going to jump on them.” -  Scott Gomez.

“(The power-play) was huge because you know how Halak was so good and so dominant, so it's nice to have a couple of goals on him to start the series.” – Max Talbot.