Morning Skate: Et le but!

Well folks, it has happened: the Montreal Canadiens are going to the Stanley Cup Final.

It’s weird. It’s wild. It’s kind of perfect for the weird, wild times we’ve all been living in.

Artturi Lehkonen scored the series-winning goal in overtime last night, giving Montreal a 3-2 win in Game 6 and a 4-2 win in the series.

Adios to the Vegas Golden Knights, one of the pre-playoff favorites.

It was funny after the game, watching to coverage on USA, listening to the commentators talking themselves into “well, few people saw this coming, but the team started to come together at the end of the season...”

No. No one saw this coming. Not even the most ardent of Habs fans, the ones that called the cops on Zdeno Chara back in 2011, thought this would happen.

And in a way, that’s what makes it kind of cool. Many of you will automatically reject such a notion because it’s the Habs, but whatever.

Underdogs are fun.

Now, of course, we’re kind of left with a series of unpalatable options.

Do you want to see the Habs lift the Cup? Not really. The Islanders? Gross. The Lightning? No.

Frankly, at this point, the Lightning winning again might be the least offensive option...unless you really want that underdog story to have a Hollywood ending.

Plus, it’s kind of hilarious knowing Leafs fans are sitting there saying “see! This could have been the Leafs!”

Today’s highlight

The Bruins and Canadiens last played on February 12, 2020 - 499 days ago.

David Pastrnak had a hat trick.

If I remember correctly, this was the last game I covered in person at the Garden before COVID.

Like I said: weird, wild times.