PITTSBURGH -- It was a frustrating night for the Canadiens, who lost the services of rock-solid defenseman Hal Gill after he was apparently cut on the back of the leg by Chris Kunitz's skate when the two players collided early in the third period.
Radio reports indicated Gill remained in Pittsburgh overnight Saturday and did not travel home with the team. He was expected to return to Montreal on Sunday for further evaluation.
His loss would be a huge blow for a Canadiens team already missing top defensemen Andrei Markov and Jaroslav Spacek. Both of those players, however, could be in the lineup Monday. Markov is reportedly looking for a brace that would allow him to play. Spacek has been skating regularly and is close, said Montreal coach Jacques Martin.
"It was a tremendous game, highly competitive," Martin said. "I thought we had some good opportunities. It was a good game. We just have to make some adjustments, and now we go home to play in front of our fans."
'I wasn't happy'
The Canadiens were outshot early by a wide margin, but it was Mike Cammalleri who had the game's first terrific scoring chance, slamming a Brian Gionta pass into Marc-Andre Fleury's pads. He wasn't happy with the outcome."To get a chance like that early, and I hit him. I hit low on the knee," Cammalleri said. "He made a good play to come across, but I've got to make a better shot there. I wasn't happy with that shot."
Road rules
Starting with the opening round last spring, the Penguins have closed out series in Philadelphia, Washington, Carolina, Detroit and Ottawa. Bill Guerin thinks it's the attention to detail that has allowed the team to have such success in crucial situations away from home."I just think we're definitely aware of how difficult it is to play on the road," Guerin said. "In those games, we maybe pay a little bit more attention to detail. Most of the time, I feel it's that a lot of little things get done in those games."
