The Canadiens came out flying again to start a period but could not phase Craig Anderson. Jumping out to 8-0 and 12-6 shot advantages despite taking the majority of the penalties 1st period, the Canadiens still could not get pucks past the 48-save hero of Game 1.
White scored unassisted at 3:20 of the 2nd after a brutal giveaway by Erik Karlsson to give the Habs their first lead of the night, poking a loose puck 5-hole on Anderson who looked as solid as ever in the 1st period. Moments later Michael Ryder scored his first goal dating back to early April, and 1st as a Hab in the playoffs since 2006 to restore a 2-goal lead after 40 minutes. Ryder had a wide open side to shoot at with Bourque and Desharnais earning assists. The Habs were outmuscling Ottawa 28-13 after 40 minutes in the “hits” department while the penalty-killing squads were 4/4.
Price won back the fans in the final minutes of the 2nd when the Habs’ Brandon Prust was hit from behind but called for “closing his hand on the puck.” On the ensuing powerplay Price jabbed out his left leg getting across from his right post to save the game-tying goal.
Price was sharp again until perhaps distracted by Jean-Gabriel Pageau screening him before the Sens scored to make it a 1-goal game again. The Habs goaltender tweaked Pageau between the legs with his stick, then gave him a solid blocker shot in the back knocking the Senator over just as a point shot from Chris Phillips drifted in to beat Price at 8:16 of the 2nd. Just as Anderson lost a tooth after taking a shot in the mask in Game 1, Carey Price appeared to spit out a tooth in the period after being accidentally kicked in the head by his own defenseman Jarred Tinordi.
Less than a minute later Brendan Gallagher tucked a perfect pass from Alex Galchenyuk into the open side to Anderson’s left.
“We wanted to win for Lars but it wasn’t something we spoke about,” said White all smiles before praising Carey Price and the character win by the Habs.
Game 3 will be on Sunday in Ottawa
