Canadiens Cut Power In Washington

In one of the biggest sports betting upsets in NHL playoff history, the Montreal Canadiens completed their upset of the Washington Capitals with a 2-1 road win on Wednesday night. They did more than advance to the second round with the win however, as the Canadiens became the first eight seed in NHL history to come back from down three-games-to-one in a best-of-seven series and beat a Presidents trophy-winning team. In terms of regular season points differential, Montreal’s win ties them for fifth largest upset in NHL history, as the Capitals finished with 33 points more in the Eastern conference standings.

The story of the series was the performance of 24-year old goaltender Jaroslav Halak, who helped Montreal complete the comeback with another excellent performance, stopping 41 of 42 shots in the Game Seven win. Halak improved to 10-0-1 in games where he has faced 40 or more shots, and raised his total to 131 saves on 134 shots combined in three straight Canadiens hockey betting wins. Halak didn’t do it alone however, as players in a Montreal uniform combined for 41 blocked shots, which combined with the shots that missed the goal, puts Washington’s shot total for the final game at over 100. Alex Ovechkin led the Capitals with 10 shots, compared to 16 Canadiens’ shots total, the fewest for a winning team in a Game Seven since the Tampa Bay Lightning had 15 shots in a 2-1 win to take the 2004 Stanley Cup over the Calgary Flames.

The Canadiens will face another difficult task in the second round, where they will face the defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins.