NHL teams
Pierre LeBrun, ESPN Senior Writer 9y

P.K. Subban steals the show with assist from a Habs legend

MONTREAL -- A pep talk from a special friend helped Montreal Canadiens star P.K. Subban take Game 2 by storm Friday night.

Two nights earlier, ejected from Game 1 for his two-handed slash on Mark Stone, a dejected Subban got a surprise visit as he moped around the hallway outside the dressing room.

"Wednesday after he was thrown out of the game, I ran into him in the hallway," Elise Beliveau told ESPN.com in French on Friday night after Montreal’s 3-2 overtime victory. "He wasn’t in good spirits. I told him: 'Don’t worry about it, you’ll be great on Friday night.' And look at tonight!"

Look at Friday night, indeed. Subban was an absolute beast in being named the game’s first star, scoring a big goal while being a force throughout as the Canadiens delivered an early series blow to the Sens in taking a 2-0 lead.

Subban revealed postgame his conversation with Mrs. Beliveau, the wife of the late, great Jean Beliveau, adding to the lore of this franchise when it comes to what many Habs fans believe are external, spiritual forces that have always helped out at this time of year.

"It's so funny: 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," said Subban. "It's one of the cutest things I've ever seen.

"I wanted to be better for her."

Better as in not costing his team by taking a bad penalty like he did in Game 1, even though his team escaped with a win. He thought to himself that Jean Beliveau, who exuded class on and off the ice, would have never taken that kind of penalty.

"You know what Jean Believeau means to this organization," said Subban. "And not just hockey, but Canada as a country what he means to us. To have his beautiful wife support me like that, it's a great deal of confidence for me.

"Every time I see her in the stands, especially when she wears my jersey, it’s flattering. Sometimes it’s surreal to see her there. But I think we all feed off of seeing Mrs. Beliveau."

Talk about adding salt to the wound for the Senators, who felt Subban should have been suspended and not be available to play in Game 2.

Instead, they had to watch as Subban’s blast beat Andrew Hammond to give Montreal a 2-1 lead 16:30 into the second period, his goal celebration absolutely all-world.

The Habs needed Alex Galchenyuk's overtime winner to seal the game, but let’s not kid ourselves, this night belonged to Subban, who managed to dominate the headline for a second game in a row -- but this time for the right reasons.

"P.K. was P.K.," said Canadiens head coach Michel Therrien in French. "He was solid, he was really engaged, skated well, scored a big goal. You look at everything and it was a solid game."

Given all the attention on his slash from Game 1, Subban was determined to change the narrative. And did he ever.

"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."

All the talk of possible retribution from the Senators never materialized. Subban didn’t feel targeted in any way.

"Nope. Playoff hockey," said Subban.

Indeed, the gong show of the first few days of this series instead became a good old-fashioned barn-burner of a playoff game with players on each team finishing their checks but everything between the lines.

For the Senators, however, there is suddenly some real adversity for a team that was flying high on a 21-3-3 run to end the regular season.

Patrick Wiercioch’s third-period goal gave the Senators some life and forced overtime, but they couldn’t complete the comeback. Instead, they now head home down 2-0 and need to somehow beat Carey Price, the NHL’s top netminder, four out of five games to win this series.

It’s a tall task, but these pesky Sens have been proving people wrong for two months.

"We’re going back to our home building, the fans are going to be awesome and we’ve been playing from behind the last [10 weeks]," said Wiercioch.

"It’s no different mentality than we’ve been approaching to get into the playoffs. Now, we’ve just got to find a way to win one and go from there."

Hammond was solid in Game 2, answering the question of how he’d respond after a shaky Game 1, although he probably should have had the one in overtime.

"We’re going home now," said Hammond. "We've faced adversity before. It’s nothing new to us. The pressure is on but it’s something we’re comfortable playing with."

Friday’s game, meanwhile, marked the return of Habs star winger Max Pacioretty from a suspected concussion. He shook off some first-period rust to open the scoring for Montreal in the second period on a power pay. His healthy return also underscores the task being even harder for Ottawa now, because Pacioretty’s presence in the lineup was easily noticeable Friday night; their most dangerous offensive player looked like he had fresh legs after two weeks off.

"He looked like a player that didn’t miss a beat," said Therrien.

If there’s any silver lining for the Senators it’s that winger Stone, despite barely being able to shoot a puck in warm-up, gutted it out and played Friday, putting up a pair of assists and very much having an impact despite his less than 100 percent standing (the rookie has a microfracture and ligament damage in his right wrist). He didn’t register a shot on goal, which is not surprising given what he looked like in warm-up, but he found a way to make a difference. Impressive, really.

But the Senators will need more than Stone to step up starting Sunday.

The Habs are feeling it, and they’re up 2-0 thanks to a big assist from a legend’s widow.

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