Stu Cowan: A night to remember for Habs and fans alike
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“It’s just an unbelievable feeling,” Jesperi Kotkaniemi says after scoring winner in front of 2,500 screaming fans. “Hard to describe.”
Author of the article:
Stu Cowan • Montreal Gazette
Publishing date:
May 30, 2021 • 1 day ago • 4 minute read • 13 Comments 
Members of the Montreal Canadiens salute the fans at the Bell Centre after their OT victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 6 of the first round of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs on Saturday, May 29, 2021. Photo by Minas Panagiotakis /Getty Images Article content
Oh, what a night!
For those who could afford the crazy prices on the ticket resale market to be among the 2,500 fans at the Bell Centre Saturday night for Game 6 of this first-round playoff series between the Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs, you couldn’t have asked for a more entertaining hockey game.
Hopefully your heart was up to the task.
Jesperi Kotkaniemi scored at 15:15 of overtime to give the Canadiens a 3-2 win after they had blown a 2-0 third-period lead to force Game 7 Monday in Toronto (7 p.m., CBC, SN, TVA Sports, TSN 690 Radio, 98.5 FM).
After being announced as the first star of the game, the fans cheered wildly for Kotkaniemi and he applauded back at them.
It was the perfect ending to a night Montrealers will probably never forget as fans returned to the Bell Centre for the first time since the start of COVID-19. The light at the end of the pandemic tunnel seemed to get a little brighter.
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Forty-five minutes before the game, the cheapest seat available on the Ticketmaster website was $955.90 and the most expensive was $4,840. Sportsnet tweeted out a photo of a young fan wearing a Canadiens sweater on a Montreal terrasse in the afternoon holding a sign that said: “Sorry Mom I sold my little brother to be here!”
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But whatever price fans paid — season-ticket holders were able to purchase tickets for $190, $260 or $330 before they hit the resale market — they were pumped with excitement before the game even started, cheering and waving the white CH towels they were given.
The first “Go Habs Go!” chant started shortly before the Canadiens hit the ice for the pregame warm-up and there were loud boos when the Leafs came out. There were some fans wearing Leafs sweaters, but you couldn’t hear them.
When it was time for the national anthem, longtime Bell Centre organist Diane Bibeau started to play O Canada and then stopped, allowing the fans to sing it unrehearsed all by themselves the rest of the way — in both official languages.
It might have upset Quebec Premier François Legault and those offended by hearing someone say “Bonjour/Hi,” but it really was beautiful — as Montreal as a two-cheek kiss.
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Hopefully, some day soon we can actually give two-cheek kisses again. Some Canadiens fans might have already done it after Kotkaniemi’s goal.
“It was pretty cool going out for warm-up and seeing the towels going,” the Canadiens’ Tyler Toffoli said after the game. “They were fired up and they definitely gave us that emotion to start the game.
“It was great having the fans back in the building,” he added. “They’re obviously really excited. They’ve been through a lot … we’ve all been through a lot. So for everybody who got the opportunity tonight, we’re very grateful and they definitely helped us get that win tonight.”
The Canadiens were definitely fired up by the fans to start the game and outshot the Leafs 8-0 in the first four minutes, but couldn’t beat goalie Jack Campbell.
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The Canadiens continued to dominate for most of the first period and when the team tweeted out a video of Jeff Petry’s two young boys cheering in the stands with their mother, you couldn’t help but wish the defenceman would open the scoring.
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Montreal outshot Toronto 15-9 in the first period, but the score was still 0-0 and you wondered how much longer it might be before the fans started to lose their voices and also if the Canadiens would ever score a goal.
There were no goals in the second period, either.
Corey Perry finally opened the scoring for the Canadiens at 5:26 of the third period on a power play, followed by another power-play goal by Toffoli at 6:43 and it sounded like there were about 10,000 fans in the building.
But the Leafs battled back and got goals from Jason Spezza and TJ Brodie to force overtime.
For Toffoli, it was his first time playing in front of fans at the Bell Centre as a member of the Canadiens.
“I dreamed of scoring in front of 20,000 fans, not 2,500,” he said. “But it was really cool. It was just a great experience. A huge game for us. Obviously, we needed to win and we all came to play.”
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The Canadiens looked like they were running out of gas in overtime — especially top-four defencemen Shea Weber, Ben Chiarot, Jeff Petry and Joel Edmundson — and the Leafs were outshooting them 13-1 in the extra period. But Carey Price was Playoff Carey Price, making 41 saves in the game. Then Paul Byron stole the puck just inside the Toronto blue line and fed Kotkaniemi with a pass and the Canadiens’ second shot in OT went in.
“It’s pretty unbelievable,” Kotkaniemi said after the game. “I actually just started to think … it’s probably my first-ever OT goal. It’s pretty remarkable. It was a great feeling, especially when the fans are in the stands. It just gives you little goosebumps. It’s just an unbelievable feeling. Hard to describe.”
It was definitely a night to remember that ended with the Canadiens players all standing at centre ice and holding their sticks up high to salute the fans.
It might not be the last time fans get to see them at the Bell Centre this season.
Kotkaniemi forces Game 7 in Toronto with OT winner 
Leafs have one remaining opportunity to end past playoff failures 
About Last Night: Can I get 2,500 witnesses? Habs force Game 7 scowan@postmedia.com
twitter.com/StuCowan1
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