Throughout the illustrious history of the Montreal Canadiens, goaltenders have become heroes for their performances in the playoffs. Jaroslav Halak edged closer to the likes of Patrick Roy and Jacques Plante after another fantastic performance knocked the Washington Capitals out of the playoffs.
The Slovakian made 41 saves in Montreal's 2-1 win to set up a second-round matchup with the Stanley Cup champions, the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Habs become the first eighth-seeded team in NHL history to knock out the first seed after trailing 3-1 in the series — and they certainly worked hard for it. As impressive as Halak was, he couldn't have done it alone. The Canadiens gritted their teeth from start to finish, putting their bodies on the line to lighten the load for Halak by blocking over 30 shots.
The Caps dominated the early exchanges but couldn't beat Halak. Their frustration gave the Habs a power play at the end of the first period, and Marc-Andre Bergeron dispatched a powerful one-timer to give his side the unexpected 1-0 lead.
The Caps kept the pressure firmly on Halak's net, dominating the second period with the Habs only managing three shots on goal. However, once again Halak was perfect, making save after save.
Washington's Nicklas Backstrom was seeing more of the puck than he had for a lot of the series, but still there was no way past Halak. The third period opened with a bang, when after 24 seconds Alex Ovechkin had the puck in the net for the Caps. However, the goal was correctly waived off for goaltender interference by Mike Knuble.
Montreal's Maxim Lapierre, who seems to have turned a corner with his commitment, had a goal ruled out for similar interference to Knuble's. Although the Capitals were dominating, Montreal had opportunities to increase its lead as Mike Cammalleri hit the iron with a clever backhand.
The Caps had chance after chance to tie the game, but it was the Habs who scored the decisive second goal.
A long dump by Hal Gill allowed Lapierre to give chase. He took Mike Green out of the play and Dominic Moore scored with a quick shot to silence the Verizon Center.
The Capitals didn't give up despite only having three minutes left. They responded immediately as Brooks Laich scored with a rebound from the crease after another Halak save.
When Montreal's Ryan O'Byrne took a penalty with two minutes left the Caps must have thought it was their lucky day. Semyon Varlamov left his net to give Washington a two-man advantage. But Halak kept his nerve, as did his teammates, to give Montreal the huge victory.
Despite the Caps' dominance throughout the game, Montreal's defensive performance was nothing short of incredible. They were willing to throw everything in the way of Washington's arsenal of firepower, and they certainly deserve their place in Round 2 of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
