More Pack Stanley Cup Impact

Maxim Lapierre, who had the game-winning goal in Montreal’s season-saving 4-3 win over Pittsburgh in Game Six last night, is not an ex-Wolf Pack. His two third-period linemates are, though, as, with the Canadiens’ season hanging in the balance, Lapierre was flanked by former Pack regulars Tom Pyatt and Dominic Moore.

While neither Pyatt (one goal, one assist) nor Moore (two goals) has put up eye-popping numbers for Montreal in the postseason, both have played in all 13 of the Habs’ playoff outings, and both have made significant impact.

Moore had a huge goal (the winner, as it turned out) in Montreal’s Game-Seven victory over regular season-champion Washington in the first round, and both he and Pyatt have consistently found themselves on the ice late in games when the Canadiens are trying to protect a lead. Not bad, when you consider that Pyatt spent much of the first five months of the season in the AHL with Hamilton, and Moore is already on his sixth NHL team since breaking into the pros with the Wolf Pack in 2003-04.

And on the topic of callups chipping in, P.K. Subban’s ice time in Game Six? Only 29 minutes and 10 seconds, the most of any Canadien player. In the span of eight games, the not yet-21-year-old blueliner has gone from AHLer to the two-way defenseman that Jacques Martin and Co. seem to be counting on the most, in every conceivable situation.