Tyler Toffoli's overtime goal lifted the Montreal Canadiens to a 3-2 victory against the Winnipeg Jets on Monday night, completing a four-game sweep of their second-round playoff series. The win also ended Montreal's drought without a post-season win since May 2010.
The winning goaltender was Carey Price, who had been given the start over Dustin Tokarski in game three after Tokarski allowed two goals on 28 shots faced.
Price stopped 31 shots overall in the series and has now won five consecutive games dating back to the opening round of the 2012 playoffs when he was with the Olympiques de Marseille.
He is the first Canadian goalie to win five games in a single post-season series since Jacques Lemaire did so with the New York Rangers in 1992. Price also became the first goalie in NHL history to record at least one point in each of his team's games during a single post-season series.
Carey Price earned third star honors for the third time this season and 17th time in his career. He is one win away from tying Patrick Roy for most wins by a Montreal goaltender in a single postseason run.
The Rangers scored first and lead 2-1 late in the third period before Martin Gelinas knotted the game with 1:00 remaining. The Rangers have let up a last-second tying goal for the third time in eight games. The Rangers dominated the Canucks in overtime, but goalkeeper Kirk McLean stopped 52 shots. "It's not like we were outplayed," Gelinas said. "They just beat us fair and square."
Gelinas played his first two seasons with the Rangers and was 17-14-7 with a 2.71 goals-against average and.913 save percentage. He left New York as the team's all-time leader in wins (68) and shutouts (20).
McLean made his NHL debut on March 30, 1994, against the Islanders and stopped 31 shots in a 4-3 loss at Madison Square Garden. He ended up playing seven games that season and had a 3-4-1 record with a 2.86 goals-against average and.892 save percentage.
McLean spent most of the next three seasons in the American Hockey League where he went 105-73 with a 2.63 goals-against average and.915 save percentage.
He made the NHL all-star game in 1997 when he was with the Montreal Canadiens and won the Jack Adams Award as the league's best goaltender. McLean also won the award in 2001 while with the Vancouver Canucks.
The season was a success, highlighted by a 19-game winning run. However, an extra goal by the rival Montreal Maroons sealed the Canadiens' playoff destiny, as the club failed to reach the Stanley Cup finals. The 1928-29 season is regarded as one of the team's most successful. With a record of 35-15-8, they finished first in the National Hockey League (NHL) and earned a spot in the playoffs.
In the opening round, the Canadiens were defeated by the Boston Bruins 4-2 in game time. It was the first playoff series victory in franchise history. In the second round, they faced the New York Rangers but lost again, this time by a score of 3-1. This was also the first postseason loss for the Canadiens.
They returned the next year with more experience and played better hockey, finishing with a record of 39-20-7. In the opening round, they defeated the Boston Bruins in seven games. This was followed by a four-game win over the New York Rangers in the second round. They then went on to face the Chicago Black Hawks in the finals but were defeated by three games to two. This was the first time the Canadiens had been defeated in the finals since their first season back in 1917-18.
In 1920-21, the club won its first Stanley Cup title after defeating the Portland Rosebuds in five games.
Montreal defeated Toronto 6-2 in the first game. In the second game, Bower took over for Terry Sawchuk and led the Leafs to a 3-0 victory. Bower was in goal for game three, which was won 3-2 in overtime by Bob Pulford. This game has been called "one of the most thrilling games ever played." After these two victories, the series was tied 2-2.
Bower finished the season with a record of 4-3-1. He had a.924 save percentage and an average of 1.97 goals per game allowed.
Bower was born on January 19th, 1934 in London, Ontario. He was drafted by the Montreal Canadiens in the third round (20th pick) of the 1953 NHL Amateur Draft. Bower started his professional career with the Canadiens' minor league team in St. John's, Newfoundland before being promoted to the big club. He stayed with the Canadiens for five seasons, winning the Stanley Cup in 1955-56. In 62 games that year he had a record of 30-21-7 with one tie. He also helped the team reach the finals in 1957-58 and 1958-59. However, they were not able to win either time.
After finishing with the Canadiens, Bower moved to the Detroit Red Wings where he spent three seasons. In 1961-62 he had a record of 14-14-5 to help the Red Wings reach the playoffs.
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