Craig Simpson

yeah you know what i think everybody came into this series feeling like uh you know a little different vibe for montreal than last year a much more mature team a team that last year never really got themselves into the washington series and

went pretty easily in five.

So I think the anticipation was there.

Ironically, guys, though, even John Cooper said today, not a whole lot happened in the game.

Neither team had 10 shots in a period.

It was only a 23-19 shot game.

So in that respect, I thought it was a tightly played game that I thought maybe five on five, there'd be a lot more happening than expected.

In the end, it ended up being the special teams that were really the only thing that was able to grab hold of the game.

Fortunately for Montreal, what a big win.

To go on the road in a tough building and get scored on two quick goals in 29 seconds, it's not often that you win those games, and especially in playoffs when momentum can change so much.

I think Montreal's got to be feeling confident and pretty happy with their overall performance, going into a tough barn and getting the all-important first game of the series.

You know what he has, and he's a classic example of a big young kid that had to learn to grow into his body and learn to get his speed up to NHL levels.

I talked to CeCe and Kyle before this series, and

As you're preparing and looking at stats, I looked at Slavkoski and I said, immediately, I went to Leon Dreisaitl.

Dreisaitl, third overall pick, a big guy, maybe not the fastest, took a little while to grow into his body.

Look at the numbers, guys.

Rookie year, Slavkoski, four goals, 10 points in 39 games.

Dreisaitl, two goals, nine points in 37 games.

Second year, Dreisaitl, 19-51.

Second year, Slavkovsky, 20 goals, 50 points.