Pens expect some support on road

Associated Press

MONTREAL

The Pittsburgh Penguins might feel more at home than the typical visitors to the Bell Centre for a playoff game against the Canadiens.

Owned by Montreal-born hockey legend Mario Lemieux, the Pittsburgh Penguins can expect a small share of local support when they take the ice for Game 3 of their Eastern Conference semifinal.

Pittsburgh’s lineup boasts four Quebecers, including goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, defenseman Kris Letang, and forwards Maxime Talbot and Pascal Dupuis. And Penguins captain Sidney Crosby, a native of Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia, honed his French while playing junior hockey in Rimouski.

“We felt like all of Quebec was behind the Penguins last year,” said Talbot, who brought the Stanley Cup home last summer after scoring both goals in Pittsburgh’s Cup-clinching 2-1 win in the seventh game of the final in Detroit.

“It will be crazy being in Montreal,” he said. “It will be crazy. Fun. Exciting. But we just need to control our emotions because it’s still an important hockey game.”

Fleury, who hails from nearby Sorel on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River, made a huge save on Red Wings captain Nicklas Lidstrom to end that game. Hoisting the Stanley Cup was a dream born with Fleury’s memories of the Canadiens’ last championship in the spring of 1993.

“It was very special to see them win the Cup that year, so I think that it will be fun to be there and play a game there and it will be exciting,” Fleury said Monday before the team flew to Montreal.

While Crosby and the Penguins’ young Quebecers will be making their Montreal playoff debuts, Pittsburgh right wing Bill Guerin knows firsthand the environment awaiting his team.

“It’s an unbelievable experience, an unbelievable atmosphere,” said Guerin, who faced the Canadiens with Boston in the first round in 2002. “It’s something that I think we’re all going to enjoy. As long as we keep our emotions in check, we’ll be fine.”

Despite the Penguins’ popularity in the province, the Canadiens will be welcomed as conquering heroes by yet another sold-out crowd.

Montreal evened the second-round series at 1-1 on Sunday. Michael Cammalleri scored twice and Jaroslav Halak made 38 saves in a 3-1 win in Pittsburgh in Game 2.

Cammalleri has scored eight goals in nine playoff games, including seven in his last six.

“We know his number and we know what he has done for his team thus far in the playoffs,” Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said. “He is getting opportunities and is being dangerous with those opportunities. We have to be extremely cautious when he is on the ice.”