As he watched his young team swarm Newhook, St. Louis understood the enormity this special blip in time meant to his players. It\u2019s an experience, he said, that can’t be bought, nor can it be taught.<\/p>\n
It just is.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we’re going through right now, you can’t buy that. It’s amazing,\u201d St. Louis said. “I’m so happy for the players to live that. It’s unreal to play in the NHL. But to get to live this do-or-die situation, in terms of moving on or you’re done, scoring the big goal in overtime, that feeling that a player has, it’s unbelievable.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI’m so happy that we’re getting to live that.\u201d<\/p>\n
They, like St. Louis, are in the midst of a special journey, one that took the next step with a game for the ages on Monday.<\/p>\n
Much like this loony best-of-7 series, Game 7 went up and down like a\u00a0yo-yo. A two-goal lead by Montreal in the first period on goals by Phillip Danault<\/a> and Zachary Bolduc<\/a>. Buffalo chipping away with a goal by Jordan Greenway<\/a>\u00a0in the second, then the equalizer by captain Rasmus Dahlin<\/a>\u00a0at 6:27 of the third that unleashed a roar both inside the arena and from the thousands attending the watch parties outside.<\/p>\n Then, with the score tied 2-2, the teams sat in their respective dressing rooms a 30-second walk from each other preparing for an overtime that would determine the winner not only for this game, but for a wacky series that at times had no rhyme or reason.<\/p>\n Consider that through the first six games the home team had only won twice. The margins of victories in those contests had been decisive, with only one coming by one goal.\u00a0<\/p>\n Now, after almost two weeks and 420 minutes of hockey, it was a case of \u201cnext goal wins.\u201d<\/p>\n