The situation was just perfect for narratives: after failing on almost every power-play opportunity in Game 4, the Montreal Canadiens received yet another chance 30 seconds into overtime. Benoit Pouliot could have been the goat when he took that holding the stick penalty, but the New York Rangers survived and eventually won 3-2 to take a 3-1 series lead.
Taking a step back, the Canadiens experienced a woeful evening on the man advantage. They went 1-for-8 on the power play, with P.K. Subban representing Montreal’s lone power-play tally of this series. Montreal is 1-for-17 in the Eastern Conference finals after going 8-for-23 in their seven-game series against the Boston Bruins. (They managed two power-play goals in dispatching the Tampa Bay Lightning in four games, for what it’s worth.)
The situation looks bad enough without considering Carl Hagelin’s shorthanded goal, which means that Montreal broke even on the power play despite getting eight opportunities to just three for New York.
Habs head coach Michel Therrien made no bones about it: the Canadiens power play failures made the difference in Sunday’s contest.
"It's the story of this game," Michel Therrien on the #Habs power play failing to score more.
— Arpon Basu (@ArponBasu) May 26, 2014
While the Rangers can feel proud of their penalty killing prowess, Alain Vigneault didn’t sugarcoat the lapses in discipline.
Asked about penalties tonight, Vigneault points to chest: "It was us. They were penalties. Can't do that."
— Katie Strang (@KatieJStrang) May 26, 2014
Regardless, the Rangers managed to survive those self-inflicted wounds. Time is running out for the Canadiens to figure things out on the power play and in these conference finals overall.