PITTSBURGH -- Montreal coach Jacques Martin would not say who his starting goalie would be in Game 2. He yanked starter Jaroslav Halak in the series opener after the goaltender gave up the fifth Pittsburgh goal (he faced 20 shots in all) in Friday's 6-3 loss. Carey Price did not give up a goal on the three shots he faced in relief.
Adams finally gets on board
If you had watched Craig Adams swoop in on the Montreal goal and convert a nice Pascal Dupuis pass for his second goal of the playoffs, you'd never guess he was a guy who went 82 regular-season games without collecting a goal.But he did. Not that he was happy about it.
"Yeah, it bugged me a lot," Adams said. "Obviously, it's not something to be proud of, for sure. It definitely bothered me at the same time. I guess the good thing for me was that it wasn't the difference between me contributing and not contributing. That was easier to take. No, it definitely bugged me. It's nice to get a couple in the playoffs."
It's actually not all that easy to play an entire season and not score. Adams became only the second player in NHL history to accomplish the feat, following the skate prints of Ken Baumgartner, who accomplished the 82-game 0-for in 1997-98.
"I don't think there's anything different," he said. "I'd like to think that I try to play the same way during the regular season and just didn't put one in the net. I had lots of good chances, lots of good passes, things like that. I think it's just some good luck."
We had a nice chat with Adams during the playoffs last year and he talked about the challenges of being traded to Pittsburgh and trying to sell his house in Raleigh, N.C., and move his family.
He explained the house remains unsold, so maybe that was weighing on him during the regular season? "It's been weighing on me for awhile. If you think of when I played there, it was kind of a long time ago," Adams said.
As CBC reporter Elliotte Friedman walked by, Adams asked if he was interested in buying property in the greater Raleigh area. So, what's it like, this house?
"It's a beautiful house, built in 2002, high-end finishings, high ceilings, great kitchen if you love to cook," he said. "It's in north Raleigh. A very desirable area. Great school districts. Just a nice quiet neighborhood. Two-car garage and really nice master bedroom. You've got the birds chirping outside the window and everything."
Adams admits it's not technically for sale right now, but that could change quickly.
"We've got renters in there now," the Harvard University grad said. "I will evict them if I have to."
