2021 Semi Finals Round : Montreal Canadiens vs Las Vegas Golden Knights (MTL Wins 4-2)

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

 

The improbable Canadiens meet the still-searching Golden Knights.

First time since 2014, the Canadiens are seeing play in the Final Four.....for the Knights, Final Four is 'old hat' as this will be their third Final Four appearance in the 4 years of their existence.
They are looking for the big prize.

I gotta believe, even with a red hot Carey Price, the Habs have to be heavy underdogs, although the big, tough, physical make up of the team seems well suited to playoff scenarios.
They did away with media favorite Toronto.... did away with Winnipeg (in sweep fashion!), a team some feel is on the cusp.
Problem is, the Knights aren't the Leafs or Jets.
Las Vegas is a multi-line, multi defense pairing with an almost complete, top to bottom workmanlike attitude.....all backed up the highly experienced and former Cup winner, Marc Andre Fleury.

Can Montreal beat the Knights down enough so that their forwards can take advantage and put up some goals?
Suzuki, Byron, Danault, Toffoli, Perry.... Habs will need every single one of these guys at their best.

Weber, Petry (if he can play...rumor is he has a nagging injury), maybe even young Romanov will be needed to come up large from a defensive standpoint.

As for the Knights, they deal with a team that many feel "shouldn't be there", but if the Knights let themselves believe they are superior, they could be in big trouble.
LV simply has to be who they are, throw everything at Montreal like they did against the Wild and Avalanche and see if the Canadiens can withstand it.

Price vs Fleury is a classic goaltending match up.
Also, this series could get VERY physical, VERY nasty, VERY quickly.

Series discussion for the Habs n Knights...right here!

Edited June 25, 2021 by TropicalFruitGirl26

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

Hate to say it, Habs fans, but I went with Knights in 5.

I've been wrong about LOTS of things this post season, but I think the Canadiens' "ride" stops here, and it stops hard.
Habs will physically make this tough, but I think the Knights are too fast, too deep, too playoff tested, and especially, too hungry to be stopped by an upstart Montreal team.

And everything the Habs seem to do well....checking, goaltending, opportunistic scoring..... the Knights appear to do just as well, if not better.

No shame in Carey Price's game, but frankly, I don't think he has the horses in front of him like Marc Andre Fleury will have.

[Puck_Pun]

This is a matchup I didn't see coming at the beginning of all this, but here we are. This will be fascinating to see happen

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

25 minutes ago, Puck_Pun said:

This is a matchup I didn't see coming at the beginning of all this, but here we are. This will be fascinating to see happen

 

Seriously. A match up NO ONE saw coming.

According to the media hype machine, the Final Four should have been some configuration of:
North-- Toronto (maybe Edm or Wpg, depending on who looked hotter at the time)
West-- Colorado (this division and place in the Final Four was essentially handed to the Avs by the hype machine)
Central-- Tampa Bay (though some thought Florida too for some crazy reason  )
East-- One of Wash, Pitts, or Boston after acquiring Taylor Hall.

No where were the Habs considered and surprisingly, many thought the Knights had 'run their course' and were now due for regression.

To quote that famous football analyst and commentator Chris Berman on ESPN, "Dats why dey play da games!"

And yes, this will be fascinating because it is a match up of somewhat similar styles (the physicality and checking), but also vastly different styles, with Vegas having the advantage, IMO, on run n gun, while the Habs wanna keep this a 'half court' style game as much as possible.

[lynxrattle]

That's it for the Habs. No hope. The Northern Division was a joke, and that will be proven in this series. I'm sure of it. I'm certain of it. There's no doubt in my mind. I could bet on in it. Nothing could be more inevitable. This is a series they could leave unplayed. There will be no pot of gold at the end of this rainbow. It's a series that starts not with an anthem, but an opera tune sung by a fat lady.

 

And they've proven me wrong game after game...

 

[OccamsRazor]

I have Vegas in 7 this will not be an easy out. An epic battle i think. But i think both teams can win this.

 

But it will come down to which team wins first on the road maybe.

 

So i have a Lighning vs Knights finals. With Vegas wining in 7.......finally.

 

[mojo1917]

I said VGK in 6.

I think the quality 1-9 and physicality of their bruiser line wears the Mtl defense out.

I think all these games will be super competitive.  It won't be as fun to watch as VGK /COL was, but i think it will get ugly, and be entertaining. I dont know if i think Price can steal this series because i think Fluery can match him save for save.

 

[Buffalo Rick]

Vegas in 5

[Buffalo Rick]

On 6/11/2021 at 2:20 PM, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

 

Seriously. A match up NO ONE saw coming.

According to the media hype machine, the Final Four should have been some configuration of:
North-- Toronto (maybe Edm or Wpg, depending on who looked hotter at the time)
West-- Colorado (this division and place in the Final Four was essentially handed to the Avs by the hype machine)
Central-- Tampa Bay (though some thought Florida too for some crazy reason  )
East-- One of Wash, Pitts, or Boston after acquiring Taylor Hall.

No where were the Habs considered and surprisingly, many thought the Knights had 'run their course' and were now due for regression.

To quote that famous football analyst and commentator Chris Berman on ESPN, "Dats why dey play da games!"

And yes, this will be fascinating because it is a match up of somewhat similar styles (the physicality and checking), but also vastly different styles, with Vegas having the advantage, IMO, on run n gun, while the Habs wanna keep this a 'half court' style game as much as possible.

Its a pure fluke and most realize this.  Fluery can match Price.  Vegas has far more.  And Pietrangelo is one that could be the difference in every game.  Montreal started the season on fire.  Remember that?  And all of them were excited and thought they had something.   Then it went South fast.  Loss upon loss.  How could anyone see this?  This is 2006 Edmonton.

[yave1964]

I would love to see the upset but no. Montreal lost Petry, Vegas has depth on top of depth and should win this one easily

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

7 hours ago, Hockey Junkie said:

Its a pure fluke and most realize this.  Fluery can match Price.  Vegas has far more.  And Pietrangelo is one that could be the difference in every game.  Montreal started the season on fire.  Remember that?  And all of them were excited and thought they had something.   Then it went South fast.  Loss upon loss.  How could anyone see this?  This is 2006 Edmonton.

 

Well, look, that whole North division was a free for all throughout the season.
You are right...Montreal looked like the team to beat early on, and at times Winnipeg and Edmonton looked good enough to win it...hell, even for a split millisecond, Vancouver had a bit of a run that had me at least, thinking they could do it too.

Of course, Toronto eventually takes over, then they have their issues where it looks like they were gonna lose the lead.
Just nuts.

But SOMEBODY had to come out of the North Division into the Final Four, and it just so happens its the team that started out strong at season's start...the Habs.
They were tough enough to eventually contain and push out a still growing Leafs core, confident enough and again, tough enough to deal with the Jets, all the while Carey Price at his absolute best.

And here are the Habs.
So, while I would call them improbable to be here, "fluke" isn't quite the word, as that implies they were supposed to have NO CHANCE... but given their division, who was in it, and the circumstances that led to MTL getting to where they are, they DID have a chance.

And yes...all that is as convoluted as I made it sound!   

[Alexandron]

On 6/11/2021 at 1:38 PM, lynxrattle said:

That's it for the Habs. No hope. The Northern Division was a joke, and that will be proven in this series. I'm sure of it. I'm certain of it. There's no doubt in my mind. I could bet on in it. Nothing could be more inevitable. This is a series they could leave unplayed. There will be no pot of gold at the end of this rainbow. It's a series that starts not with an anthem, but an opera tune sung by a fat lady.

 

And they've proven me wrong game after game...

 

If Habs win series, I will write they have proven you wrong round after round after round.... 

 

Interesting that among all our voters so far no one gave a chance to win series for Montreal.

[Buffalo Rick]

6 hours ago, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

 

Well, look, that whole North division was a free for all throughout the season.
You are right...Montreal looked like the team to beat early on, and at times Winnipeg and Edmonton looked good enough to win it...hell, even for a split millisecond, Vancouver had a bit of a run that had me at least, thinking they could do it too.

Of course, Toronto eventually takes over, then they have their issues where it looks like they were gonna lose the lead.
Just nuts.

But SOMEBODY had to come out of the North Division into the Final Four, and it just so happens its the team that started out strong at season's start...the Habs.
They were tough enough to eventually contain and push out a still growing Leafs core, confident enough and again, tough enough to deal with the Jets, all the while Carey Price at his absolute best.

And here are the Habs.
So, while I would call them improbable to be here, "fluke" isn't quite the word, as that implies they were supposed to have NO CHANCE... but given their division, who was in it, and the circumstances that led to MTL getting to where they are, they DID have a chance.

And yes...all that is as convoluted as I made it sound!   

Ok.  I guess Edmonton was far overrated and after Winnipeg swept them, so we’re they

 

ill jus add that the Leafs have the talent but not the goalie

Edited June 14, 2021 by Hockey Junkie

[Buffalo Rick]

2 hours ago, Alexandron said:

If Habs win series, I will write they have proven you wrong round after round after round.... 

 

Interesting that among all our voters so far no one gave a chance to win series for Montreal.

They will lose

[ruxpin]

2 hours ago, Alexandron said:

If Habs win series, I will write they have proven you wrong round after round after round.... 

 

Interesting that among all our voters so far no one gave a chance to win series for Montreal.

I swear I picked on this, but apparently it disappeared   Habs in 6.

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

Game 1 in the books.

Knights take it.   4-1 final.  Habs gave them everything they could handle physically early on, but it wasn't near enough. MAF got stronger as the game went on, and the Knights backed him all the way.

[lynxrattle]

The Habs did start well. I sure wish they will be able to compete, otherwise it's going to be a boring and short series.

[yave1964]

It looked like a cat toying with a mouse until it became bored and put it out of its misery. Wow Vegas seems to be on a mission.

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

4 hours ago, lynxrattle said:

The Habs did start well. I sure wish they will be able to compete, otherwise it's going to be a boring and short series.

 

1 hour ago, yave1964 said:

It looked like a cat toying with a mouse until it became bored and put it out of its misery. Wow Vegas seems to be on a mission.

 

 

Montreal's BEST hockey, outside of Carey Price throughout the game, was probably the first 10-15 minutes.
It really looked like they were meaning business with that tough, physical play.

Now, though, I wonder if all that hitting they were doing was part of "the plan", or they simply were 'chasing the game' the Knights were dictating.
If it is the latter, the Habs really are in big trouble.

Knights took everything the Canadiens dished out, got the lead anyways, then dished out some of their own.

Marc Andre Fleury went from looking a bit rattled at first (probably a poor choice of words for a seasoned pro like him), to more wall-like as the game progressed, while all Vegas lines, it seemed, were running like the proverbial well oiled machine.

[Brewin Flames]

 

[Math]

First game of a season against a team that's not playing in the same league, logical result.

 

It should be a Vegas sweep. But again, the puck is round, the ice is slippery, the rebounds are sometimes bad, sometimes good... So Vegas in 6.

[OccamsRazor]

14 hours ago, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

MAF got stronger as the game went on, and the Knights backed him all the way.

 

 

Oh Jane is going to light you up giving the Flower a complement.

 

I told him like or not he has been oustanding.

 

 

Edited June 15, 2021 by OccamsRazor
#boubonup

[Lindbergh31]

14 hours ago, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

 

 

 

Montreal's BEST hockey, outside of Carey Price throughout the game, was probably the first 10-15 minutes.
It really looked like they were meaning business with that tough, physical play.

Now, though, I wonder if all that hitting they were doing was part of "the plan", or they simply were 'chasing the game' the Knights were dictating.
If it is the latter, the Habs really are in big trouble.

Knights took everything the Canadiens dished out, got the lead anyways, then dished out some of their own.

Marc Andre Fleury went from looking a bit rattled at first (probably a poor choice of words for a seasoned pro like him), to more wall-like as the game progressed, while all Vegas lines, it seemed, were running like the proverbial well oiled machine.

I'm hoping for a Bolts/Knights final because I believe it would be a great series to watch. Besides I can't stand the Habs or Islanders.

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

9 hours ago, Lindbergh31 said:

I'm hoping for a Bolts/Knights final because I believe it would be a great series to watch. Besides I can't stand the Habs or Islanders.

 

Now THIS I can get behind!

[Puck_Pun]

They started strong but eesh after that first penalty Vegas just dominated. I wasn't expecting a habs win but I'd prefer it to be a little less one sided