Oh Canada!
MONTREAL — The underdog Montreal Canadiens won another do-or-die game Monday night to force yet another Game 7 against a Stanley Cup favorite.
Michael Cammalleri scored twice, Maxim Lapierre gave Montreal a crucial two-goal lead in the third period and the Canadiens held on for a 4-3 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins, tying their NHL Eastern Conference semifinal at 3.
Jaroslav Spacek, who missed the previous nine games because of a virus, put Montreal up 3-2 in the second when he scored 2:30 after Cammalleri's second goal drew the Canadiens even midway through the middle period.
Lapierre made it 4-2 with an unassisted score 11:03 into the third.
"Not only is it a big goal for us but the way he scored it ... " Cammalleri said. "At that point in the game — you've got a lead in the third — you don't want to be making any plays back, so he fakes like he's going to come up high with the puck, where we don't want to go with it, and then beats a guy with a power move to the net. So, a strong move and great goal for us."
Bill Guerin deflected Sergei Gonchar's slap shot from the right point past Jaroslav Halak with 1:24 remaining to draw Pittsburgh within one. But the Canadiens held on to set up Game 7 in Pittsburgh Wednesday.
"They were facing elimination," Penguins left wing Pascal Dupuis said. "They were a desperate hockey team. They came hard."
Halak stopped 34 shots for the eighth-seeded Canadiens, who came back to beat Washington in the first round after falling into a 3-1 series hole against the Presidents' Trophy-winning Capitals.
They now have an opportunity to end the reigning Stanley Cup champions' run of five straight playoff series wins.
"We know it's going to be a great challenge for us," Lapierre said. "We know what to expect from them, from their fans, and we just need a good start in Pittsburgh."
Sidney Crosby scored his first goal in seven games in the first period.
"It was nice to see one go in," Crosby said. "You work hard to get chances, so yeah, for sure, it always feels good to score. But that wasn't something that I kept thinking about, I just wanted to generate more and more."
The Penguins' 22-year-old captain earned an assist for his 19th point in 12 games when Kris Letang scored for the second game in a row early in the second.
That made it 2-1 for Pittsburgh, which had closed out each of its five previous playoff series with a road win.
Cammalleri, who opened the scoring 1:13 in, drew the Canadiens even 10:45 into the middle period when he put a backhand past goalie Marc-Andre Fleury from the slot for his second of the game. He has 11 goals in 13 games.
Spacek drove a slap shot from the point past Fleury at 13:15 to touch off a thunderous ovation from the crowd.
"They got back in the game, the fans got back in the game, and then we were in the tough task of coming back from behind," Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said.
Game 7 could prove to be the final game at Mellon Arena, the Penguins' longtime home. The defending champions, who haven't lost a playoff series since falling to Detroit in six games in the 2008 Stanley Cup finals, will move into the new Consol Energy Center next season.
Shutdown defenseman Hal Gill was unable to play for Montreal after he was forced to leave Saturday night's game. Gill, who skated in pregame warmups, was cut on the back of his left leg by former teammate Chris Kunitz's skate in the Canadiens' 2-1 loss in Pittsburgh in Game 5.
Notes: Fleury made 21 saves. ... The Penguins lost to Montreal 2-1 in their first game at Mellon Arena — then named the Civic Arena — on Oct. 11, 1967.
