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Montreal Canadiens By The Numbers Take Series Lead

4-1 win puts Montreal on brink of first Stanley Cup Final since 1993

by Chris Wassel

June 23, 2021

in Featured, Montreal Canadiens, NHL, Opinion, Vegas Golden Knights

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Numerology seems to be aligned with the Montreal Canadiens. These can be things that are often joked about but then again maybe not. Montreal took a 3-2 series lead on Monday night after a 4-1 victory in Vegas. Carey Price gave up a late goal to Max Pacioretty but stopped 26 of 27 shots.

Nick Suzuki was the player of the night with a goal (empty net) and two assists. This included a power-play assist as well.

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Game 5 has been covered plenty by pundits and journalists.

Let’s do something a little different.

After five games of this series, there have been a ton of quirky numbers. It is time to embrace these stone-cold facts.

Montreal Canadiens’ Numerology

Again, this has been some series. Think about some of the cooky trends that have popped up in this one for a second. Let’s begin.

Four of the five games have seen a combined five goals scored.

The over/under in each game has been five. Imagine a bettor’s nightmare to see that five hits with reckless abandon. Still, this number has not moved. Even in Game 5 (there’s that five again), Montreal looked like they might not hit that empty-net goal. Who is anyone kidding? Of course, the Montreal Canadiens did. Nick Suzuki slammed the puck into the yawning cage and sealed the win. It made total sense.

The Montreal Canadiens power kill is now a plus one.

The Montreal Canadiens have scored four shorthanded goals.

They have allowed three power play goals..

The penalty kill is now +1.

— Jared Book (@jaredbook) June 7, 2021

The funny part is all three of those goals allowed occurred way back in the Toronto series. That seems like a lifetime ago. Montreal is now 13 for 13 on the penalty kill in the series. Overall, they have killed off 30 straight man disadvantages. The penalty kill is actually an advantage for the Canadiens currently.

This puts Montreal’s penalty kill up at 93.2% which leads the league by a good margin. Thanks to StatMuse for the easy-to-follow graphics.

An ode to .820 for the Montreal Canadiens’ goalie?

What? That is indeed the save percentage on the penalty kill this season for Carey Price. His career average is .873. The only time Price was above a .900 save percentage on the penalty kill was the 2011-12 season (.907). His percentage now stands at .946 (53 of 56 shots) which is absurd in every way.

Latest Canadiens News

Speaking of the number five…

Again, Nick Suzuki now has five goals in the postseason. Cole Caufield chipped in five assists so far. Furthermore, Jesperi Kotkaniemi also has scored five times. The trio is all 21 or under and they have combined for 13 goals and 27 points. Just think, Caufield did not play in the first two games this postseason.

Then, there is the obvious. The Montreal Canadiens are now just five wins away from winning the Stanley Cup. If anyone had predicted this before the postseason, what are tonight’s lottery numbers?

The “interns” are alright too…

Again, this has been a unique postseason in every way. With Dominique Ducharme out due to COVID protocols, Luke Richardson and Alexandre Burrows have filled in quite well. They have two wins in three games as Montreal has not missed a beat. Montreal playing like a team and coming together the way they have has been incredible. Credit has to go to these two assistants. It has been some unbelievable job.

What is next? Who knows? No matter what happens, this has been some fun ride.