Niagara Falls Review e-edition

Max factor set stage for series

Pacioretty trade was a key move for both Canadiens and Knights

KEVIN MCGRAN

Where would the Vegas Golden Knights be without Max Pacioretty? For that matter, where would the Montreal Canadiens be if they hadn’t traded him?

Pacioretty was the Canadiens’ captain before he was dealt to Vegas in the summer of 2018, helping to define the future of both franchises.

Though they have never met in the playoffs before the bestof-seven Stanley Cup semifinal that starts Monday night, the trade — which has worked out beautifully for both teams — gives the series the makings of a decent rivalry.

The Canadiens were in full rebuild mode at the time of the swap, adding promising forward Nick Suzuki, speedy veteran winger Tomas Tatar and a second-round draft pick.

The Knights, meanwhile, beefed up with a leader and key offensive contributor who, at 32, can still score. In 48 games this season, he had 24 goals and 27 assists for 51 points — seven more than Montreal’s leading scorer, Tyler Toffoli.

“He’s been a tremendous player,” Vegas GM Kelly McCrimmon said of Pacioretty. “He brings a lot of positive attributes to our team. We had a chance to add a guy who was a proven goal scorer. We wanted to improve another line. The synergy he developed with Mark Stone took them both to new levels.”

Suzuki is a game-breaker with elite skill, like young teammates Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Cole Caufield, all of whom have contributed to Montreal’s Cinderella run through these playoffs. Suzuki was one of the first Knights, selected 13th overall in their first draft in 2017.

“It was definitely a bit of a shock,” Suzuki said of the trade. “When Marc (Bergevin, the Canadiens’ GM) called me to say I was a big piece he really wanted, I just wanted to show that Montreal made the right decision. I want to do everything I can for this franchise.”

But now they run into Pacioretty’s Knights. Friends and former teammates are now foes in pursuit of a berth in the Stanley Cup final.

“When you play a guy in a playoff series, you’re not really thinking about any relationships you have with him ... he’s the guy standing in the way of you getting to the ultimate prize,” Canadiens winger Brendan Gallagher said.

None of the final four teams have played each other this season because of , so there will be a feeling out process.

“It’s been a different season for everyone,” said Canadiens coach Dominique Ducharme. “That’s part of the challenge for everyone.”

Still, three of the teams also got this far last year: Vegas, the Tampa Bay Lightning and the New York Islanders. The Isles are talking about “unfinished business” having lost the Eastern Conference final to the Lightning in six games last year, with the deciding game going to overtime.

“That’s a high-powered team that’s going to get their chances,” said Islanders star Mathew Barzal. “It’s about limiting them.”

Pucks In Depth went 7-1 in first-round predictions (getting you know who wrong). and 2-2 in the second for a 9-3 total. Twice we got Montreal wrong. We won’t do that again.

No. 1 Vegas Golden Knights vs. No. 4 Montreal Canadiens

> Regular season: Knights 40-14-1, Canadiens 24-21-11

> The Golden Knights: Ousted Minnesota in seven and Colorado in six, a pair of particularly tough series ... The spotlight will shine on ex-Habs captain Max Pacioretty, now a key leader in Vegas, and MarcAndré Fleury (7-4, 1.81, .925) as he battles the team from his home province and a goalie (Carey Price) who is more than up to the task ... So far, their best players have produced: William Karlsson leads Vegas with four goals and seven assists. Pacioretty, Stone, Jonathan Marchessault, and Alex Pietrangelo each have eight points ... Ryan Reaves leads the playoffs in hits per game ... The defence core (Pietrangelo, Shea Theodore, Alec Martinez and Zach Whitecloud) will be the toughest the Canadiens have faced.

> The Canadiens: Upset the Maple Leafs in seven and swept the Jets. They’re on a seven-game win streak ... Four balanced lines has been the key. Every forward plays between 11 and 16 minutes a game at even strength, indicative of a team that has the coach’s trust — from young players (Suzuki, Kotkaniemi, Caufield) to grizzled veterans (Eric Staal, Corey Perry) ... Price is 8-3 with a 1.97 goals-against average, .935 save percentage and one shutout ... Toffoli leads the Canadiens in points with 10 ... Their penaltykilling unit is a playoffs-best 90.3 per cent and has scored short-handed four times. á Edge: Montreal in six

No. 2 Tampa Bay Lightning No. 3 New York Islanders

> Regular season: Lightning 36-17-3, Islanders 32-17-7

> The Lightning: Beat Florida in six and Carolina in six — not exactly playoff-hardened opponents, but the defending champions have done as expected ... While the big guns on lesser teams were eliminated early, Nikita Kucherov (five goals, 13 assists), Brayden Point (eight goals, four assists) and Steve Stamkos (five goals, eight assists) keep rolling ... The power play is deadly (41.7 per cent) ... Andrei Vasilevskiy (8-3, .934, 2.24) is a six-foot-three, 225pound wall in net.

> The Islanders: Full measure for eliminating both Pittsburgh and Boston in six ... Strong in net and four lines deep with a no-name defence that’s better than you’d think. Coach Barry Trotz gets the most out of his players ... They lead the playoffs on defensive-zone faceoffs (57.1 per cent) and can score in bunches ... Jean-Gabriel Pageau is a gamer (three goals, 10 assists). Kyle Palmieri (seven goals, two assists) has proven to be the best trade-deadline pickup ... It’s odd to see Leo Komarov on the first line, but it works.

> Edge: Tampa in seven

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2021-06-14T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-06-14T07:00:00.0000000Z

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