The Montreal Canadiens are four wins away from winning the Stanley Cup. On Thursday, the Canadiens defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 3-2 in Game 6 of the semifinals in overtime to reach the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 1993. This is an improbable run for the Canadiens, considering they had the worst regular-season record of any team in the playoffs.
“Everything seems to be moving so fast right now. It’s really fun to see the guys enjoying themselves in the dressing room, they deserve it. It’s really heartwarming to see a group of guys that work that hard together,” interim coach Luke Richardson said, per ESPN. “I know every team is the same and says the same thing, but these guys are a special group and a really good mix. It’s hard to put into words how proud we are of them, but they deserve it and they’re not done yet. Like, they still have fire in their eyes, they’re already talking about it.”
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Hear 7 calls ๐ for Artturi Lehkonen’s game 6 overtime goal against the Golden Knights to send the Montreal Canadiens to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 1993!
๐๐๐#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/oEcadQsI6l
โ ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฅ(Habs fan for now) (@ianwcanucks) June 25, 2021
The Canadiens have won 24 Stanley Cups, which is an NHL record. The last team from Canada to reach the Stanley Cup Final was the Vancouver Canucks in 2011. No Canadian team has won the Stanley Cup since Montreal in 1993. The Canadiens will face the winner of Friday’s Game 7 between the New York Islanders and the Tampa Bay Lighting, who are the defending champions.
“They do so much blocking shots on the penalty kill. [Phillip Danault] was great in the faceoff circle once again,” Richardson said when talking about the game-winning goal. “This is the time of the year that real, playoff battlers come alive and those two guys have really shown through. It was fitting for our team, the way we play — we play hard defensively, and try to do all the right things defensively – it was fitting for them to get the winning goal.”
The Canadiens are one of the oldest sports franchises in North America, as they were founded in 1909. Their 24 Stanley Cup wins were at one point the most championships by any team of any of the four major North American Sports until 1999 when the New York Yankees won their 25th World Series.
