On February 16, 1977, Montreal came to town and the game was quickly shaping up to be your standard 1970s Canadiens-Penguins tilt: two quick goals by the Flying Frenchmen and an apparent blowout on the
horizon. But for some strange reason, Pittsburgh decided to start playing.
Pierre Larouche |
Thirteen seconds after Pens goaltender Denis Herron let a bad one dribble by
him to give Montreal their 2-0 lead, Rick Kehoe and Pierre Larouche broke in on
a two-on-one. Kehoe used his teammate as a decoy and beat Ken Dryden cleanly. By
the time the horn rang, the Penguins had built an improbable 3-2 lead, the last
goal coming on another Larouche-Kehoe rush, with Pierre this time pulling the
trigger.
The teams traded goals in the second, giving the Penguin fans hope
that the team might actually capture its first win against the Habs in their
last 10 tries. Guy Lafleur, however, had other ideas. The superstar came into
the Penguins zone on the right side early in the third and surprised Herron
with a rocket of a shot, low on the stick side.
There was no quit in the
Penguins on this night, though, and it was only the incredible goaltending of
Ken Dryden down the stretch that enabled the Canadiens to leave the Igloo with
a point.