The Montreal Canadiens have advanced to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in 28 years after defeating the Vegas Golden Knights 3-2 in overtime on Thursday night.
Posted Jun 25, 2021, 05:18AM EDT
The Montreal Canadiens have advanced to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in 28 years after defeating the Vegas Golden Knights 3-2 in overtime on Thursday night.
Artturi Lehkonen scored the game winner at 1:39 of the extra period. Cole Caufield and Shea Webber had the other goals for Montreal.
Montreal, who qualified for the post-season with the fewest points of any of the playoff teams, won the best-of-seven series 4-games-2.
It marks the first time since 1993 that the Canadiens have advanced to the final. That was also the last time they won the Stanley Cup.
The Canadiens, who improved to 5-1 in OT in these playoffs, are set to meet either the Tampa Bay Lightning or New York Islanders in the final. That semifinal matchup sits tied 3-3 with Game 7 set for Friday in Tampa.
The frustrated Golden Knights finished the regular season second in the NHL’s overall standings – 23 points ahead of the 18th-ranked Canadiens – but much like the heavily favoured Toronto Maple Leafs and Winnipeg Jets before them, had no answer for a relentless opponent that’s spent much of the last two months confounding the hockey world.
Thursday was Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day in Quebec, and there was more to celebrate than usual as the Canadiens will now look to bring the sport’s Holy Grail back over the border after Vancouver (1994 and 2011), Calgary (2004), Edmonton (2006) and Ottawa (2007) all fell short in the final since Montreal’s triumph 28 years ago.
With similarities to the team’s memorable run in the spring of 1993 – an underdog not expected to challenge the big boys – Montreal is into its NHL-record 33rd final since 1917-18 and will be looking to add to its league-topping 24 Cup banners.
The Canadiens clinched a berth in the title series on home ice for the seventh time since the league expanded in 1966-67, and the first since defeating the Islanders in Game 5 at the Montreal Forum on May 24, 1993.
Montreal advanced to the Eastern Conference final in both 2010 and 2014, but lost out to the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers, respectively.
