Giant Killers

The Montreal Canadiens followed up a monumental upset by pulling off another, and now the Pittsburgh Penguins are joining the Washington Capitals in sitting out the rest of the Stanley Cup playoffs. The eighth-seeded Canadiens completed another upset with a 5-2 win over the Penguins in Game 7. The Canadiens trailed 3-2 in the series before rallying to win the final two games.

Montreal, about the last team anyone would have picked to beat the top-seeded Capitals, much less the reigning NHL champion Penguins, accomplished what no team has done since the current playoffs format was adopted in 1994. And that’s beat the Presidents’ Trophy winners and the Stanley Cup champions in successive rounds as an eighth-seeded team.