Hockey Hall-of-Fame writer Dave Molinari's piece in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette yesterday highlighted the many educational pedigrees which dot the players on the Pittsburgh Penguins' playoff roster.
From Harvard to Notre Dame to Boston College, the Penguins can't claim a lack of knowledge in their dressing room.
I wonder whether any of those degrees are in mathematics, because after the resilient Montreal Canadiens' 4-3 game 6 victory last night at The Bell Centre, there's going to be a lot of talk about numbers in the next few days.
Specifically, numbers which attempt to quantify who's going to finally close out this series in game 7 now that it's even again for the final time.
Like how the Penguins have won their last several game 7's, and Montreal won their last one -- in the first round.
Like how no team has more series victories after being down 3-2 than the Canadiens.
Like how the Penguins have yet to lose back-to-back games this post-season, and have a 10-2 record in those situations dating back through their last 6 playoff rounds.
Like how no team in National Hockey League history has ever defeated the #1 seed in the first round as a #8 seed, then gone on to win in the second round.
Like how the Montreal Canadiens played in the first game in the history of the now-Mellon Arena and now have the chance to play in the last.
The Penguins, of course, would rather not have to go back to school, but since just about every one of Montreal's victories in this series followed the same script, they certainly can't say they're surprised to have to.
Once again, Pittsburgh controlled the play and outshot Montreal by a commanding margin -- this time 37-25.
Once again, they had several decent scoring chances, but hit 3 posts and weren't otherwise able to get the puck by Canadiens' netminder Jaroslav Halak when they needed to most.
Once again, their goaltender, Marc-Andre Fleury, gave them an uneven performance and wasn't able to shut the door on the incredibly opportunitstic Habs.
Sound familiar?
And it started off early last night again, just like it did in game 4 -- the last time the teams met in Montreal.
Pens' rearguard Kris Letang turned the puck over in the neutral zone early in the first period, leading to a 2-on-1 rush for the Canadiens, and it only took seconds before Montreal forward Mike Cammalleri wristed one by Fleury's glove hand from about 45 feet to give the Habs a 1-0 lead.
While I'm not going to completely hold Fleury's feet to the fire for that one, I felt he could have had it. The pass from Tomas Plekanec to Cammalleri traveled only about 5 feet, so he didn't have to move much, and he has to know that Cammalleri is going to be the trigger man in that situation.
Fortunately, the Penguins countered quickly, with Captain and center Sidney Crosby knocking a puck out of mid-air and in about 6 minutes later, and then added to that lead early in the second frame when Letang atoned for his first period gaffe by taking a pass from Crosby on a rush while on the man-advantage, walking down the slot, faking a pass, and just wristing it off Halak and under his arm to make it 2-1 Pittsburgh.
Like in game 4, however, the Penguins couldn't hold that lead.
Cammalleri scored again to tie the score, this time finishing off a 3-on-3 Canadiens' rush by escaping the coverage of Penguins' backchecker Max Talbot and tossing a nice backhand off the far post and past Fleury for his league-leading 11th of the post-season.
I'm trying not to be too critical of Fleury here but again, I think he was moving across the crease a little too quickly, and I believe it took him slightly out of position. Cammalleri didn't have many options since he was on the backhand and Talbot was fast approaching him. Like I said -- a good shot by #13, but a little more body control there and Fleury might have had it.
Think the Penguins need to do more to contain Cammalleri? Uh, yeah.
When defenseman Jaroslav Spacek -- playing his first game in 3 weeks in place of scratched Habs' blueliner Hal Gill -- scored on a seeing-eye, ice-level slapshot just under 3 minutes later to give Montreal a 3-2 lead before the period ended, the Canadiens' fans just about lost their minds.
Which, not coincidentally, is what happened to me at the 11 minute mark of the 3rd period when Montreal 4th liner Maxim Lapierre beat defenseman Alex Goligoski down low in the Pittsburgh zone, cut right out in front of Fleury unmolested while the Pens' Selke Trophy finalist Jordan Staal just basically watched him go by, then beat #29 with a backhander to the far post from about 5 feet away that Fleury just didn't track well moving across the crease.
That goal gave Montreal a 4-2 lead and proved to be the game winner when Pens' RW Bill Guerin tipped a Sergei Gonchar slapper past Halak with about 80 seconds left in the game.
Of course, that only served to make the score more interesting. It certainly didn't do anything to lessen the pressure which, now, is squarely on the local hockey club for Wednesday night's winner-take-all affair @ The Igloo.
Meanwhile, the Canadiens will come into that one with confidence -- and house money, since nobody expected them to take the Penguins to the brink after overcoming a 3-1 deficit against the league's President's Trophy winner in the opening round. Even if they lose, their year will be considered successful.
For the Penguins to satisfy their season appetites, they need to show themselves, their fans and the hockey world why they are the defending Stanley Cup Champions.
I'd rather them not be in that position, but now that they are, there's only one thing to do.
B - E - L - I - E - V - E
Game 7 preview tomorrow.
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