MONTREAL -- After stealing "home ice" with a resounding and shocking 5-0 win over the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 2, the Montreal Canadiens look to enter unexpected waters and take the series lead against the top seed Flyers.
Before suffering chest pains and requiring surgery to install a stent, head coach Claude Julien called the Flyers the most complete team in the league and knew his bleu-blanc-rouge squad would have to play like warrior poets to defeat them.
Well, job done.
Now what?
The Habs will need to keep the pressure on to continue their Cinderella run in the playoffs.
SCORE MORE THAN ONCE AND KEEP GOING
Friday's 5-0 drubbing was the first time in the postseason that Philly's stingy defence and number-one puck stopper Carter Hart had let more than one goal in.
When Jesperi Kotkaniemi put in the second goal of the game, the Flyers were in uncharted waters.
They were down, and they needed to fight back.
The Habs, however, did not let them do this.
In Game 1, the Habs put a meagre four shots on Hart in the first period, and only looked ready to play in the second period.
The game was the smoked meat sandwich of the series with two flimsy bread periods and one juicy meat-filled one in the middle.
Game 2 was more of a Santropol sandwich (analogy Montreal foodies will understand) with the Habs outshooting the Flyers 16-6 in the first period and keeping Philly from getting a single shot for over 16 minutes.
By the time the Flyers got their skates moving and sticks swinging, it was too late.
Montreal outshot the Philly 32-30 in the end.
THE MASTER AND THE APPRENTICE
In a reverse of the Darth Vader - Obi Wan Kenobi relationship from Star Wars (1977 version of course), it was the master who skated off the ice with his helmet on and held high.
Birthday boy Hart (he turned 22 on Thursday) got the better of his boyhood hero Carey Price in the Flyer's 2-1 win in Game 1, though both puck stoppers played well.
Unlike in Star Wars, however, the circle was not complete in Game 2 when the master returned, and Price recorded his seventh postseason shutout. He is now three shutouts back of all-time Habs playoff shutout leaders Ken Dryden and Jacques Plante.
Hart could only watch from the bench in a baseball cap after being pulled in the second period having allowed four goals on 26 shots.
"It's his calmness and consistency," said interim coach Kirk Muller. "If you walk into a room and your number-one goalie is a calm and confident guy, you feed off that stuff."
In other birthday boy news, today is Price's 33rd birthday.
For the numerologists out there, the last Habs goalie to win a cup was... No. 33, Patrick Roy.
Speaking of old guys with no signs of slowing down, Shea Weber turned 35 Friday, notched a +2 with two blocked shots and one hit in over 25 minutes played.
He gets the big slice of cake.
MORE SAUCE
Like any good meatball sandwich, it is always wise to lay the sauce on thick.
When the Tomas Tatar sauce is ready to serve, Montreal needs to just keep asking for more.
With a combination of speed and tenacity, the Tatar-Nick Suzuki-Brendan Gallagher line is proving to be a lot to handle, and was headache for Philly's defence, which had not given any team much room up until Friday.
Tatar's first-minute goal off a Gallagher rebound was his first of two goals in the first two minutes of the first two periods. The Canadiens' regular season points leader had not scored in the playoffs yet, and now that the monkey is shrugged off his back, Habs fans can only hope it continues.
Kotkaniemi, meanwhile, has four goals in six playoff games. He had six in 36 this regular season before being sent to the Laval Rocket in the AHL. What a difference a pandemic makes.
Muller's decision to move Max Domi to the second line with Kotkaniemi and Jonathan Drouin also paid off with the 20-year-old babyfaced Finn assassin sniping two goals, and Domi notching three helpers.
Fourth liners Joel Armia, Alex Belzile and Jake Evans also got in on the fun with Armia scoring and Belzile, 28, getting his NHL point with an assist.
"It’s not about how much ice time you get, it’s what you do with it," said Muller.
WATCH THE BOUNCE BACK
The Flyers will be eager to bounce back with a vengeance, particularly the teams' top stars.
Claude Giroux, Sean Couturier, Travis Konecny and James van Riemsdyk have not scored in the postseason. Philly's power play was 0-for-5 in Game 2, and they surrendered two power play goals.
Maybe Flyers mascot Gritty shouldn't have dumped two bottles of maple syrup on a Canadiens' flag in the parking lot before the game.
At this point, no one should underestimate the Habs, and the Flyers have enough experience and coaching to know what to do to retake the series lead.
Game 3 is tonight at 8 p.m.
The Habs will be in red.
