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MONTREAL — The young garcon dressed in full hockey gear is wearing a Henri “Pocket Rocket” Richard sweater and carrying a lit torch as he skates one lap around the dimmed Bell Centre’s slippery surface.
As he gets back to the red line, he heads to the centre faceoff dot, where he kneels and touches the flame to the ice. From there, he rises and faces one side of the building, holding the torch high. The crowd goes berserk.
The boy turns to face the other side, where more fans are cheering and screaming and waving towels and you think, mon Dieu, this has to be more noise than any other assembled group of 21,273 has ever made.
Seconds later, the Montreal Canadiens step out for their first appearance in front of the faithful since the No. 8 seed upset a No. 1, and since they stole Game 2 of their second-round series with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
And somehow, the volume reaches an even higher decibel. At that point it’s clear: There’s no way the Habs are going to lose Game 3. The fans won’t allow it.
“They’re awesome,” Montreal defenceman Hal Gill, a former Penguin, said before Tuesday’s tilt. “They’re into it. In Pittsburgh, the fans were great. But you get here and it’s a different level.”
Josh Gorges, Gill’s blueline partner, is asked to compare Montreal’s crowd to that of other NHL teams. His eyes roll.
“It’s just so electric here,” Gorges said. “It’s a different vibe than you get in other buildings. Other buildings are loud. Most buildings are sold out ... they’re loud.
“But when you come here, it’s like there’s a presence that you feel when you step on the ice that you don’t feel in other buildings. It’s not only for us. I think road teams coming in, they like it, too. You always see when they come out, they’re energized as well.
“It’s fun to play in this building. You look up in the rafters and you see all the jerseys and all the Stanley Cup banners, and the crowd is going wild ... I mean this is a special place to play. It’s always loud. It’s not always cheers here, but they’re into the game. There’s a passion that comes with the people that watch this game. It’s not just watching for the sake of something to do.
“The people, I feel, believe in this team.”
The people had lots to believe in during the first period. The Habs should have been up 3-0 on the Penguins, who had only three shots on goal by the intermission.
But somehow, P.K. Subban’s point shot during a power play doesn’t find its way through a gaggle to the mesh, even though by his raised arms, he clearly thought it did.
And somehow, Mike Cammalleri uncharacteristically misses the net with a clear chance from the slot.
And somehow, Maxim Lapierre’s shot from in close goes the wrong way after it hits a pipe.
And somehow, Pittsburgh has the momentum in the second.
“Energy is energy,” Penguins pest Matt Cooke said beforehand. “It’s just how you harness it. When you’re getting energy at home from the crowd, sometimes your emotions get the best of you and you can’t harness it properly.
“(The noise at Bell Centre) is something we’ll have to deal with, but definitely try to take advantage of.”
The Habs had power surges and some great chances in the third as the crowd tried to lift them to a comeback. But even the Ole, Ole song, not heard until a penalty to Jordan Leopold with 5:31 left, could not help them score.
With the exceptionally strong support the Habs received, the end result was a complete surprise. Now, what do the fans do for an encore?
STARTS AND STOPS
The “Crosby Sucks” chants almost shook the walls after a scrum at the second-period buzzer in which Sid The Man got away with a punch to the back of Roman Hamrlik’s head. Had he been given the penalty he deserved, the Penguins wouldn’t have been on the early third-period power play during which Evgeni Malkin scored the eventual game-winner ... The most popular Hab, other than goalie Jaroslav Halak? Already, it’s rookie P.K. Subban. Unless the fans were actually screaming their support of Montreal’s penalty killing units when he was on the ice in the first ... Marc-Andre Fleury’s best stop of the playoffs was a game saver off Tomas Plekanec with 3:48 left in the third.
BETWEEN PERIODS
Brian Gionta had seven of Montreal’s 18 shots. Mike Cammalleri had four others. If anyone knows the whereabouts of Andrei Kostitsyn, they should have him report to the Bell Centre Thursday ... The Canadiens have their own version of the History Will Be Made commercials they showed on the centre-ice scoreboard before the game. The highlight is of their goalie stoning the Capitals in Game 7 of the first round, followed by the caption, “What if Halak hadn’t been magnifique?” ... If someone had told you that, through two periods, Halak’s best saves would be off Mark Letestu and Alex Goligoski, you would have figured the Habs had the game in the bag.
FROM THE TOWER OF POWER (THAT IS HAL GILL)
Quotables from the big blueliner after the morning skate. “You just try to get the respect of your teammates,” Gill said of his approach to the game. “I’ve been too a lot of things. Too slow, too big ... I don’t know, there’s a lot of things going on. You just go out there and try to prove yourself every night.”
And: “Who doesn’t want to play in front of a bunch of screaming fans?” Whether they’re screaming at you or for you.”
And: “Who wants to be the best against the other guys? You want to be the best against the best. You want to see how good you can play.”
Against the Penguins in Game 3, the Habs weren’t quite good enough.