Canadiens defeat Golden Knights in Game 6, advance to Stanley Cup Final

MONTREAL -- Artturi Lehkonen scored at 1:39 of overtime to give the Montreal Canadiens a 3-2 win against the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Semifinals at Bell Centre on Thursday.

Lehkonen one-timed a wrist shot past goalie Robin Lehner stick side off Phillip Danault's backhand pass to win the best-of-7 series and send Montreal to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 1993.
"I saw an opening on my left, and 'Lehky' was there," Danault said. "I made the pass, and it was the cherry on top of the sundae."
Cole Caufield scored his fourth goal of the series, and Carey Price made 37 saves for the Canadiens, who will play the Tampa Bay Lightning or New York Islanders in the Cup Final. Game 7 of that semifinals series will be played at Amalie Arena in Tampa on Friday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, SN, TVAS).
"I'm excited for those that were lucky enough to be in the building (3,500)," Price said. "Everybody in the city's obviously ecstatic. It's a fun time to be in Montreal right now."

Reilly Smith and Alec Martinez scored for the Golden Knights, who tied the Colorado Avalanche for the most points in the NHL in the regular season (82), losing the Presidents' Trophy on the regulation-wins tiebreaker (35-30). Vegas lost in the Stanley Cup Final in 2017-18 and in the Western Conference Final last season.
The Golden Knights went 0-for-2 on the power play and were 0-for-15 in the series.
"When you get to this point, the teams that win find another level," Vegas coach Peter DeBoer said. "They don't sag. We didn't find another level, and they did. I thought they were opportunistic. They owned the key moments of the series.
"When they got a chance, they stuck it in the net. When they needed a big save, they got a big save. They won the overtime battle. They won the special-teams battle. If you're losing those areas of the game, you're putting yourself in a tough spot."
Lehner made 29 saves in his second start of the series after Marc-Andre Fleury allowed three goals on 25 shots in Game 5, a 4-1 loss.
"It's hard to take in, but I thought we battled hard," Lehner said. "I'm really proud of our guys' season. Everyone worked really hard, and it's not easy to get to the Stanley Cup Final. We were right there."
Canadiens captain Shea Weber made it 1-0 with a power-play goal at 14:06 of the first period. Martinez's backhand on a clearing attempt went straight to Weber, who scored on a slap shot from the top of the left face-off circle.
"I'm definitely proud of everybody in that locker room and what we've accomplished so far, but there's still work to be done," Weber said.

Smith tied it 1-1 at 14:54 when he got his stick down behind Price's right pad to deflect Shea Theodore's pass inside the left post.
Caufield tipped Joel Edmundson's stretch pass and raced past Golden Knights defenseman Brayden McNabb, then cut to the net and scored with a wrist shot over Lehner's glove to give Montreal a 2-1 lead at 9:36 of the second period.
Martinez, a two-time Stanley Cup winner with the Los Angeles Kings (2012, 2014), tied it 2-2 at 1:08 of the third period on a rebound from the edge of the crease that got between Price's pads after a save on Alex Pietrangelo's rising shot.
"This is one of the best, if not the best teams I've played on," Martinez said. "To come up short is disappointing. I'm proud of the way the guys battled."
The Canadiens won for the third time in four games with Luke Richardson coaching them following Dominique Ducharme's positive test for COVID-19.
"I fist-bumped him on the video screen," Richardson said about Ducharme's brief virtual greeting to the team after the game. "He'd love to be here with us, and we all know that."

Vegas forwards scored five goals in the series. William Karlsson, Jonathan Marchessault and Mark Stone did not score.
"I got skunked this series," Stone said. "That can't happen. I'm the captain of this team, the leader of this team. I take a lot of responsibility for what just occurred."
NOTES: Montreal did not allow a power-play goal for a second straight series. The Canadiens have successfully killed 30 straight penalties since Game 4 against the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round. … NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly presented the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl to Weber, who did not touch the trophy as the Canadiens gathered around him for a team photo.