Habs Shock The Hockey World-Habs 2, Caps 1

I'm not sure if any expert actually picked the Montreal Canadiens to upset the Washinton Capitals in their 1st round series, but that's exactly what they did. The Habs completed the 2nd biggest upset in NHL playoff history by defeating the Capitals 2-1 in game 7. The win completed a comeback that saw the Canadiens erase a 3-1 series deficit, with 2 of the final 3 wins coming in Washington. The Capitals finished a whopping 33 points ahead of the Canadiens in the regular season standings and most experts had a great time discussing how bad the Habs would embarassed in this series. Marc Andre Bergeron and Dominic Moore scored the Canadiens goals. Moore's goal in the 3rd period made the score 2-0, but the Capitals responded 1:20 later to make things interesting. Ryan O'Byrne then took a penalty with under 2 minutes to play to set up a wild finish. Jaroslav Halak was amazing again making 41 saves for the win. Seymon Varlamov made 14 saves in a losing cause. Both teams had goals disallowed in the 3rd period. The Canadiens penalty kill continued to be another huge story, holding the Caps scoreless in 3 tries and allowed only 1 goal the entire series. The Habs power play clicked again, going 1 for 3 on the night. Some other thoughts from a great night:

>Hal Gill was awesome again tonight. I gave Gill a lot of grief over the regular season, but he has stepped up his game and been a force on the blueline so far in the playoffs. The rest of the defence was solid as well.

>The Canadiens once again rolled 3 lines, with Metropolit and Pouliot seeing limited action, although Pouliot took Moen's spot in the 3rd. Not sure if there was an injury to Moen or what the deal was.

>Shot blocking was a big factor in this series and was once again tonight. The Habs had 41 blocked shots tonight, with Gill and Markov having 6 a piece.

This can only be described as a monumental upset. Going into the series I figured it would take great goaltending and timely scoring to win this series. That's exactly what the Canadiens were able to do in the final 3 games. The Silver Wolf Whiskey Hab of the Game goes to Jaroslav Halak again. What a performance again tonight, he was fabulous. Consideration also given to Gill and Markov. Next action, round 2 Friday in Pittsburgh against the Pens.