MONTREAL — It was the end of a perfect Friday night at Bell Centre and the crowd wouldn’t let the star of the show speak.
“P.K.! P.K.! P.K.!” they roared as P.K. Subban attempted to answer a post-game question on the ice, forcing him to stop mid-sentence and flash that million-dollar smile. Eventually, when he resumed, he thanked Elise Beliveau for her support and the widow of franchise legend Jean Beliveau blew him a kiss from her usual seat in the third row.
Chills.
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“It’s like nothing in the world,” Subban said of wearing the bleu, blanc et rouge after Alex Galchenyuk gave them a 3-2 overtime win. “Unless you play here, unless you play in these games, you don’t know.”
There are few that enjoy the stage more than the Habs franchise defenceman. You just knew he would deliver a standout performance after getting ejected midway through Game 1 for two-handing Mark Stone across the wrist.
In fact, Elise Beliveau had predicted as much.
She spotted Subban standing outside the dressing room in a suit after getting kicked out of Wednesday’s game and told him: “I know you’ll be better next game.” Then she showed up Friday wearing his No. 76 sweater, just as she had for the series opener.
“It’s so funny,” said Subban. “Before the game I was worked up, and then I got even more worked up, I saw her sitting behind the glass and she stands up and she shows me that she’s wearing my jersey.
“It’s one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen.”
He more than justified her support with a performance that had to irk the Ottawa Senators. Remember that they felt Subban should have been suspended for Game 2, so watching him score a beautiful goal and lead the game in ice time and finish second in shot attempts couldn’t have felt good.
This was a night when all of the key performers stepped up.
You had Max Pacioretty returning from a concussion and scoring Montreal’s opening goal. Then there was Stone, his right wrist heavily bandaged and frozen, picking up two assists even though he could barely shoot the puck because of the injury.
It was a wonderful game to watch. Fast, physical and almost entirely between the whistles. No evidence of the bad blood from the opener spilled over.
“There’s too much at stake to let one incident dictate the series,” said Senators coach Dave Cameron. “We put too much work in to get here.”
After essentially playing from behind all season, Ottawa has to try and find a way to rally from 2-0 down. They could have won either of the first two games in Montreal, which should bring some level of confidence as they head home for Game 3 on Sunday.
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They will also have to find some kind of answer for Subban, who seemed to draw particular defensive attention on the power play, opening up good opportunities for his teammates.
As the Boston Bruins found out last spring, he’s a difficult man to contain in the playoffs. Like other great athletes, Subban seems to turn negative attention into fuel — and he doesn’t mind being cast as the villain.
Expect him to be roundly booed at the Canadian Tire Centre.
“I’ve always thought of myself as a player that wants to step up in big games and make a difference,” said Subban. “I always feel that the more pressure people put on me the better I’m going to play. I play for my teammates, though. I wanted to be better for them today.”
He also wanted to be better for Beliveau.
The legend’s death in December has become a focal point of this season, with his image and words a powerful part of the pre-game playoff video the team shows inside the arena.
“I get choked when I see him on the videos,” said Subban. “That’s where the pride comes from. Part of my disappointment in (getting ejected) last game is … that’s not something that Mr. Beliveau would do. That’s the standard for everybody in the organization is — to pattern themselves on and off the ice like he would.”
There is something special in the air here. The ghosts and the glories of decades past are never far from mind.
It’s no coincidence that Montreal started goalie Carey Price for the regular-season finale in Toronto last week even with a playoff spot already secured. A victory in that game ensured them home-ice advantage through at least two rounds.
“We know that this is a tough place to play for the other team,” said Habs coach Michel Therrien. “We feed a lot on the energy of the crowd.”
They’ve held serve so far. The home-ice advantage remains.
