Playoff Game #12 - at Montreal Canadiens

Playoff Game 12

Pittsburgh Penguins at Montreal Canadiens

Penguins lead series 3-2

Why does it matter?

A third consecutive trip to the Eastern Conference Finals is available to the Pens with a win tonight in Montreal.

What has been happening lately?

• Pens - The Pens got some timely goal scoring and Marc-Andre Fleury made the lead stand up on Saturday.
• Canadiens - They couldn't get the big goal (or big save) when they needed it in the Game 5 loss.

Questions to be answered

• Where is Halak at, mentally, right now? Is he getting flustered or frustrated? Something is happening, because the Habs aren't doing a good job of keeping people out of his line of sight, and he is getting beat on long shots.
• Can the Pens show the killer instinct? Will it be easier to do since they're on the road?
• Can Sid and Geno take over the game and propel the Pens to the series victory?

Keys to the game (normally I'd write new ones, but these Keys from Game 4 are better than anything new I could write)

• Withstand the storm... again. You know the Habs need this game, and you know they're going to be desperate.
• Don't give the refs an excuse to make a call. You know the fans in Montreal are going to cry every time an Hab falls over. That will put pressure on the refs to blow the whistle. Don't give them a reason.
• Get someone in front of Halak as much as possible. The Pens have had the most success when someone is parked at the top of the crease (think about Sid on Geno's goal in Game 3).