Montreal – The Montreal Canadiens are the first division winners in this year's play-off of the North American ice hockey league NHL and are thus in the semi-finals. The record champions defeated the Winnipeg Jets 3-2 after extra time on Monday and eliminated the Jets with a “sweep” (4-0 in the best-of-seven series).
Montreal won the all-Canadian North Division and continues to fight for the end of a 28-year series of negative events for the motherland of ice hockey. Since the Canadiens' 24th triumph in 1993, no Canadian team has won the Stanley Cup. At that time, the Canadiens did not make it to the final either. “In 1993 it was a great team. But every year is different and internally we don't think about it. We focus on the moment. We can write our own history. And that's what we want to do,” said head coach Dominique Ducharme.
In the semifinals it goes against the Colorado Avalanche or the Vegas Golden Knights. In the final of the West Division it is 2-2. On Monday, Tyler Toffoli decided the game in Montreal's favor with a goal in the second minute of extra time.
In the final of the East Division, the New York Islanders are missing just one victory. The Islanders won 5-4 at the Boston Bruins despite 19:44 shots on goal and led the series 3-2. The guests from New York used their first three outnumbered games to score and could rely on goalkeeper Semjon Varlamow with 40 shots blocked. (APA; June 8th, 2021)
Play-off results of the NHL on Monday – 2nd round (“best of seven”):
North Division:
Montreal Canadiens – Winnipeg Jets 3: 2 nV (final score 4: 0)
East Division:
Boston Bruins 4-5 New York Islanders (score 2-3)
