Canadiens Continue to Defy Logic on the Road to the Stanley Cup Final

But much like comparable franchises such as the New York Yankees or the Los Angeles Lakers, the Habs have had a difficult time keeping up with a deeper league and a more modern game.Over the last decade, Montreal has been among the better teams in the league but not the best. Yet here the Canadiens are as one of the last two teams standing, the best hope to bring the Cup back to the game's place of origin for the first time in nearly 30 years. Kirk Muller scored the winning goal in Game 5 (the same Kirk Muller who was dismissed as an assistant coach along with Montreal head coach Claude Julien earlier this season).Muller couldn't stay on as the interim head coach because he's not a native French speaker. The Postseason StarsPrice won the 2014-15 Vezina Trophy as well as the Hart as the league's MVP, which shows you in part how important he has been to this team for the last 14 years. The forward who was once the league's most notorious pest has nine points in the postseason and had 21 during the regular season.The 2010-11 Hart Trophy and Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy winner will now play in his second straight Cup Final, trying to win his first one since 2007 after playing for the Cup last year with Dallas. Caufield scored the second goal against the Golden Knights and has four in 15 playoff games.Center Nick Suzuki, Vegas' second-ever draft pick who was part of the trade for Max Pacioretty, has totaled 13 points so far in the postseason. The Canadiens were a mediocre team in the regular season with mediocre special teams that got some surprising performances from key players in the postseason and saw some growth from their young players at the right time.Luck and officiating even the playing field.