Canadiens surprise in postseason, win one for their stricken coach
We’re hearing about hockey and basketball teams being “designed for the bubble” – teams with aging, brittle players rejuvenated for a last hurrah by the sports being shut down for months. But the Montreal Canadiens are the opposite of that. In February they were so certain of missing the Stanley Cup playoffs that they traded six veteran players to facilitate a long-term rebuild.
When the playoffs were expanded from 16 to 24 teams for this pandemic occasion, Les Canadiens were considered irrelevant — shorthanded after being 31-31-9 for the regular season. They were expected to be easy pickings for Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins in the qualifying round in Toronto.
Instead, Montreal won the best-of-5 series in four games, which led to the firing of Pittsburgh’s three assistant coaches.
Les Canadiens moved on to a best-of-7 with the top-seeded Philadelphia Flyers. Montreal lost Wednesday’s opener, and soon after the game its well-liked coach, Claude Julien, was suffering chest pains and was rushed to a hospital. The 60-year-old Julien underwent heart surgery Thursday – a stent placed in his coronary artery.
So on Friday the Canadiens won one for Claude Julien. They played their most passionate hockey of the year in dismantling the Flyers 5-0.
Julien was back home, recovering in Montreal and watching on television as his players stormed out like their homes were endangered. They built a 2-0 lead in the first period, led 4-0 after two. Tomas Tatar, who had not scored in five previous games, scored twice, as did Jesperi Kotkaniemi, the third-overall pick from 2018 who’s maturing at age 20. Carey Price, very mature but still agile at 33, had 30 saves in the shutout.
“It’s hard anytime someone who is part of your team is sick or in the hospital,” said Montreal defenseman Ben Chiarot. “Claude steers the ship for us. We’ll play for him as hard as we can. Carey is our best player every single night. He’s a rock for us.”
Associate coach Kirk Muller subbed for Julien behind the bench. Muller was a head coach with the Carolina Hurricanes, but Friday’s victory was his first in the playoffs. He said Julien sent him a text message of congratulations.
“Hey, Claude,” Muller said, “this one’s for you.”
Shea Weber, Canadiens captain and All-Star defenseman, kept the puck and said he will present it to Julien the next time they meet.
The series continued Sunday night at Scotiabank Arena. The Flyers bounced back the way the best teams do. They played every bit as physically as the Canadiens. Three days after his 22nd birthday, Carter Hart became the youngest Flyer to post a shutout in a playoff game. He had to do it because his team could slip only one shot by Price – a deflection that bounced right for Jake Voracek. Price has stopped 77 of 80 shots in the three games.
There was no dwindling of intensity by the Canadiens. In a close-checking game – back and fore — five of their shots struck the goalposts and crossbar. They were still fighting hard for Julien, who has been informed by doctors that he cannot rejoin his team for the remainder of the series. Or perhaps longer if Montreal rallies past Philly. This may be a situation where Claude Julien’s presence is felt more when he’s not in the arena.
