In brief: Canadiens stun Penguins in Game 7
NHL: The Montreal Canadiens followed up a monumental upset by pulling off another, and now the Pittsburgh Penguins are joining the Washington Capitals in sitting out the rest of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Brian Gionta had two power-play goals, Mike Cammalleri scored his seventh goal of a series in which he upstaged Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin and the Canadiens built a four-goal lead before beating the Penguins 5-2 in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals Wednesday night in Pittsburgh.
“We played Washington and we were supposed to get killed and we played these guys and we were supposed to get killed,” defenseman Hal Gill said. “It’s nice to be part of a team that gets things done.”
Believe it, Canadiens. Disbelieve it, Penguins.
Montreal, about the last team anyone would have picked to beat the top-seeded Capitals, much less the reigning NHL champion Penguins, accomplished what no team has done since the current playoffs format was adopted in 1994. And that’s beat the Presidents’ Trophy winners and the Stanley Cup champions in successive rounds as an eighth-seeded team.
“I don’t claim we’re this great team, I don’t claim we’re perfect and I don’t claim that everything we do is on purpose,” Cammalleri said. “I think we’re just finding ways to win.”
•Flyers force Game 7: The Flyers’ farfetched comeback is nearly complete.
Michael Leighton stopped 29 shots in his first start in nearly two months to help streaking Philadelphia beat the Boston Bruins 2-1 in Philadelphia and force a seventh game in Boston on Friday night.
Philadelphia’s postseason appeared over after it lost the first three games of the series. Not now. The Flyers are on the brink of history – and a spot in the Eastern Conference finals against the Montreal Canadiens.
The 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs and the 1975 New York Islanders are the only NHL teams to come back from 3-0 deficits to win a best-of-7 playoff series. The Flyers are the first team to trail 3-0 and force a Game 7 since the ’75 Islanders.
“Now that we’re here and now that we’ve climbed all the way back in this series, we want it too,” Philadelphia’s Danny Briere said. “We have to realize that the last game will be the toughest to leave with.”
Mike Richards and Briere scored for the Flyers.
Milan Lucic scored with a minute left for Boston.
Saints remain mum on cover-up lawsuit
NFL: An attorney for the New Orleans Saints said that the team will wait until trial to respond to a former security director’s allegations that the club tried to cover up prescription Vicodin thefts at team headquarters.
The Saints won’t settle with Geoffrey Santini and won’t be publicly discussing the lawsuit that he filed against the team until it goes to court, lawyer Phil Wittman said.
“We’re in litigation with Mr. Santini and I feel we should proceed with the legal process and not make any media comments at this time,” Wittman said. “The courts don’t like it when you try your case in the papers.”
Wittman’s comments came after Santini said in an interview with Gannett Louisiana Newspapers that he regrets not going straight to Saints owner Tom Benson when he found out about missing prescription drugs at team headquarters.
Santini says he instead went to general manager Mickey Loomis, who allegedly tried to cover up the theft and improper distribution of Vicodin from the team’s prescription drug locker.
Santini wound up resigning in August because of his dispute with Loomis over how the handle the matter and on April 30 filed suit seeking damages and back pay.
Top-ranked Williams ousted by Petrova
Tennis: Top-ranked Serena Williams was knocked out of the Madrid (Spain) Masters, falling 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 to Nadia Petrova of Russia in the third round.
Petrova, who has won 19 doubles titles, had 10 aces and frustrated Williams into making 41 errors.
Williams had looked out of form in a marathon match against Vera Dushevina on Tuesday, which lasted 3 hours, 26 minutes. It was the longest match of her career.
Last year, Williams was beaten in the opening round in her first appearance at the Madrid Masters.
In the men’s draw, second-seeded Rafael Nadal advanced to the third round with a 6-4, 6-3 win against Ukrainian qualifier Oleksandr Dolgopolov Jr.
Earlier, fifth-seeded Andy Roddick withdrew from the tournament before his second-round match against Feliciano Lopez because of illness.
Andy Murray, the 2008 winner, enjoyed a smooth passage through to the third round, beating Argentine qualifier Juan Ignacio Chela 6-3, 6-3.
Mets, Islanders talk about new arena
Miscellany: Mets chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon has talked to New York Islanders owner Charles Wang about building an arena for the NHL team near Citi Field.
“We’ve had discussions with the Islanders – in addition to those we’ve had with Major League Soccer – about building a sports/entertainment facility near Citi Field,” the Mets said in a statement.
Wilpon told Newsday for its Wednesday editions that he spoke to Wang about trying to develop something “synergistic with Citi Field and a hockey arena.”
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he had yet to speak with the Mets’ owners, but was open to the possibility.