Canadiens headed to first Stanley Cup Final in 28 years

A Canadian team is headed to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 2011.

Artturi Lehkonen took a slick pass from Phillip Danault and fired it into the net 1:39 into overtime to punch the Montreal Canadiens’ ticket to the series with a 3-2 victory over the Golden Knights in Game 6 to win the semifinal series 4-2 on Thursday night.

“I feel blessed to be here with Montreal and to be in the Stanley Cup Final,” Danault said. “It’s something amazing. It was a team effort all series and I’m so proud of us.”

While the Final was played in Edmonton last season, it featured two American teams. It had been nine seasons since Vancouver played in the championship series, matching the longest stretch without a Canadian team in the Stanley Cup Final in NHL history.

Montreal last played for the Cup in 1993 when it beat the Kings in five games to raise the trophy. That was also the last time any team from north of the border won the title.

The Canadiens will play either the Islanders or Lightning, who meet Friday in Tampa to determine the other finalist.

“We’ve come a long way to get here and it’s good to enjoy this,” rookie Cole Caufield said. “But the job is not finished.”

The 20-year-old, who played in just 10 regular season games after finishing his season at the University of Wisconsin, continued to be a spark plug for the Canadiens. He has engaged in some light sparring with Knights’ goaltender Robin Lehner in the media the last couple days about whether his moves were predictable and Lehner stoned him on a breakaway in the first period.

Caufield got his revenge in the second period Thursday and put the Canadiens ahead, 2-1.

“I just shoot for the back of the net,” Caufield laughed. “Some people maybe overthink it. It’s all fun and games what was going on between him and I, but I just shoot for the back of the net.”

Caufield is part of a young core for the Canadiens that blended well with a veteran group to make this run.

“It means everything to me, but it means everything to the team,” he said. “Some of these guys have been playing for awhile and this opportunity doesn’t come up often. So playing for these older guys and the guys that have been here for awhile, I’m just trying to take it in and enjoy the moment.”

The Knights tied the score early in the third period, but Montreal struck early once the overtime began. Lehkonen’s first goal of the playoffs came just moments after Carey Price denied a potential game-winning bid from former Canadiens captain Max Pacioretty.

Danault and Lehkonen are known far more for their defensive roles, but came up with a memorable series-clincher as Danault kicked it outside on the break.

“What a play by Phil and then a great shot,” said assistant coach Luke Richardson, who is filling in for interim coach Dominique Ducharme. “They do so much blocking of shots and Phil was so great in the faceoff circle again. This is the time of year when real battlers come alive. It’s fitting for them to get the winning goal.”

Montreal has won 11 of its last 13 games after falling behind 3-1 against Toronto in the opening round and improved to 11-0 this postseason when scoring at least two goals.

“We wouldn’t be here right now if we didn’t believe,” Price said. “We’ve always just kind of stuck with it and never doubted ourselves.”

Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on Twitter.