'Lucky' Canadiens look to eliminate Penguins in Game 4 of Qualifiers

The Montreal Canadiens are one win from eliminating the heavily favored Pittsburgh Penguins in the Stanley Cup Qualifiers, and forward Phillip Danault suggests his team's fortunes have been decided not by goals and saves, but by a higher power.

"It's different this year, I guess," Danault said Thursday of the 2020 NHL postseason. "I definitely love it. We got lucky enough to be in the playoffs this year. We battled hard to be here. We shouldn't be here. But at the same time, sometimes it's the hockey gods at some point."

The Canadiens were 31-31-9 when the NHL season paused on March 12 due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus, 10 points out of a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

But with the NHL Return to Play Plan putting the top 12 teams from each conference, based on points percentage, in a hub city, the Canadiens (.500) were the last team to make it from the Eastern Conference.

The top four teams in each conference are playing a round-robin to determine seeding for the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, while the others are playing eight best-of-5 series to determine who advances.

The No. 12 seed Canadiens drew the No. 5 Pittsburgh Penguins (40-23-6, .623), a team with a championship pedigree and top centers Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.

But after a come-from-behind 4-3 win in Game 3 on Wednesday at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, the Eastern Conference hub city, the Canadiens lead the series. They have two chances to eliminate Pittsburgh and advance to the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Their first opportunity comes Friday in Game 4 (4 p.m. ET, SN, TVAS, NBCSN, NHL.TV, ATTSN-PT). Game 5, if necessary, will be played Saturday at a time to be determined.

There seemed little to suggest that the Canadiens, who haven't won a playoff series since 2015, could play David against the Goliath of the Penguins, led by Crosby, Malkin and a core of players from the team that won the Stanley Cup in 2016 and 2017. But Montreal is one win away from bouncing Pittsburgh, again proving that hockey is a game played on ice, not paper.

"We've just done it by working hard," Canadiens coach Claude Julien said after the Game 3 win. "We know where the experience is, and the only way we can counter that is with our work ethic and our commitment and desire. We're a good skating team.

"You're playing a team that knows exactly what to do to get back into a series, and we're aware of that. So we need to be playing our best game come Game 4. We can't get overconfident (but) we've got to have the confidence to be able to close it off."

The Canadiens have hammered out their two victories, defenseman Ben Chiarot said Thursday, because they are showing a rugged quality.

"Gritty," Chiarot said, not speaking of the Philadelphia Flyers' popular mascot. "I've been impressed with how our gritty our team has been. We're not an overly big or physical team. Everyone's sticking their nose in there and getting dirty, and that's been a big part of the series right now.

"We're feeling good and positive. We've built some belief in our team. You try to keep that even keel, as everyone says during the playoffs. The job's not done, so I think we're still a very focused group."

Goalie Carey Price, seen as the Canadiens' best chance to steal the series, has made 104 saves on 111 shots faced for a save percentage of .937, while his teammates have been winning some hard battles.

"Pricey's been really solid and he's always making some key saves for us, which keeps us in the game," Danault said. "But he's not alone in this, and it's important for him to know. We're showing some character, going toe to toe (with the Penguins).

"I think we're working better together defensively and offensively. We're playing as a team. Everyone cares. We've got character, so we're on the right path."

Though the Canadiens are 0-for-10 on the power play in the series, Julien took some comfort in the fact that two of the Canadiens' goals on Wednesday -- Shea Weber in the first period, Paul Byron in the second -- came shortly after the expiration of Penguins penalties.

"They're not power-play goals, right at the end of it," he said. "When you look at where our power play was last game and even the game before, I thought (it) was much better (in Game 3). We created some chances. We didn't get the results, but if you're not going to score, you've got to have at least a little bit of momentum."

If the Canadiens can eliminate the Penguins on Friday, they'll write the final chapter in the media workroom of Scotiabank Arena.

It's in this makeshift dressing room, usually a media dining and work area for Toronto Maple Leafs games, that the Canadiens will again suit up for Game 4. It's here that they dressed for Game 3, and they're hoping there's a little magic left within these walls.

That it's a late matinee face-off means little to Chiarot.

"Not at this point," he said. "Nothing's really normal about this setup, so the game time just kind of like goes with everything else that's going on right now."