Canadiens in another improbable Game 7, this time with Penguins

PITTSBURGH - Improbable as it might seem, the Montreal Canadiens are playing a Game 7. Again.

As unlikely a Game 7 as that against the Washington Capitals a couple of weeks ago? Maybe. As unlikely a Game 7 as the Pittsburgh Penguins have played in the last 14 seasons? Maybe that, too.

All the Canadiens know is this: They barely made it into the playoffs, but they've taken the reigning Stanley Cup champions to the last game, just as they did the NHL regular-season champion Capitals. As the Capitals found out, anything can happen in a Game 7 - even the unimaginable.

"Game 7, it's all about passion, details, and the team that's going to want the game the most is going to win," Canadiens forward Maxim Lapierre said.

Two other heavily favored Penguins teams discovered that during Game 7 losses at home, against the Islanders (1993) and Panthers (1996). Each time, the Penguins led 3-2 in the series - as they did in this one - only to allow a team with nothing to lose the chance to play an elimination game.

The top-seeded Capitals led the eighth-seeded Canadiens 3-1 in the first round, but lost Game 7, 2-1, as Montreal completed one of the NHL's biggest playoff series upsets in decades.

"This is a challenge for us," Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said Tuesday, barely 12 hours after the Penguins returned from their 4-3 loss in Game 6 in Montreal. "It's 3-3. There are some views out there this should have been an easy series. But we're not losing. It's tied. They're here."

That is the surprise: The Canadiens, who finished with 33 points fewer than the Capitals and 13 fewer than the Penguins are still here, 14 games after sneaking into the playoffs by one point.

The Penguins figure to be plenty desperate. A loss not only would end a season in which they were expected to make another run at the Stanley Cup, it would be their final home game in 49-year-old Mellon Arena. They will move into a new arena next season.