Montreal Canadiens defenceman P.K. Subban carries the puck during Game 6 of the Habs’ opening-round series with the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa. The Canadiens won the series in six games.Marc DesRosiers
This is a man with a keenly developed taste for the beautiful things in life, as evidenced by the finery in which he dresses and the eye-pleasing, creative approach he takes to his job.
But you won't find Montreal Canadiens defenceman P.K. Subban arguing that the NHL playoffs should be about achieving anything such as an aesthetic ideal.
"I love winning ugly, it's fun. You talk about ugly games, I remember earlier this year us going into New York City and beating the Rangers 1-0 in their building. To me, that was my favourite win of the season," he said, referencing a midseason contest in which Montreal was largely outchanced but scuffled out a late win on a distinctly malodorous goal from long range. "Just going in there and doing what we had to do to get the job done. That's our mentality here."
It carries a tinge of the mercenary approach, but the thing that matters above all else in the postseason is the "W." No one remembers or much cares how it was earned.
So if it sometimes looks as though the Habs are clinging for dear life in hopes Carey Price, their marvellous Vézina- and Hart-nominated goalie, can steal a game, well that's okay with them.
The most frequent criticism of the Canadiens is they are courting disaster with the conservative dump-it-out-then-dump-it-in approach they often employ.
Possibly, but they also won 50 games this season and finished second in the overall standings; then they beat the hottest team in the NHL in the first round with the deciding game lifted straight out of the defensive counterpuncher's handbook.
"It becomes an art at this time of year … it's not about being pretty, it's about getting the puck out and making sure you've got five guys as tight to the net as you can and keep everything to the outside," Habs winger Dale Weise said.
"We're very comfortable playing in those games where it's tight. Sometimes it might look like we're just hanging on, but we're trying to be tight defensively and be smart with the puck. We're trying not to do anything crazy."That the Habs have played this way all year has inevitably created a comfort level with being outshot and watching the other team throw the puck around.
Maybe head coach Michel Therrien's legion of critics – it's a little like FC Barcelona, fans expect the Habs not only to win, but do it with panache – have underestimated the benefits of that experience.
On the whole, this is a team that would much prefer dominating offensively. The point is it's no big deal when it doesn't.
"It's still stressful to have to scramble around, especially when your season is on the line," centre David Desharnais said, "but you get used to it."
The previous playoff series between the Habs and Bolts shaped up a little like this year's: Most pundits viewed the higher-seeded Tampa as the quicker, better team, and the Floridians had largely dominated the season series.
It didn't matter, the Habs swept to victory.
Many will pick Tampa Bay to advance this time, and why not? Steven Stamkos has to score sometime and Montreal lost all five regular-season meetings between the teams, most of them badly.
On Thursday, Therrien worked hard to affix the underdog label to a team that racked up 110 points this year and pipped the Lightning for the division title on the last night of the regular season.
"This is a group that's been criticized basically since Game 1," he said. "But this is a group that always answers the bell."
If Tampa Bay was lacking in playoff experience, last season provided an object lesson on what's required to advance.
A year later, they scored more goals than anyone in the regular season and also have a healthy Ben Bishop in goal. He has only one regulation loss in 13 career starts against Montreal.
The first-round performances from both teams bore resemblances. Each was pushed hard by an aggressive opponent, each had a tough time scoring goals and each overcame sputtering power plays.
You might even say high-scoring Tampa Bay's Game 7 win over Detroit – in which it was roundly outshot over two periods and nursed a 1-0 lead deep into the third – was distinctly Habs-like.
When Subban was asked what he expects from the series, he said "Oh we're gonna have to grind it out."
"I mean, there's no question. We're not preparing for [Friday] saying we're not going to have to grind," he said. "You're going to have to grind, they're going to force you, and that's okay, we're comfortable with that."
In a series that could be decided on the margins, it's fairly clear one of these teams is perfectly content producing the kinds of wins only a mother could love.
Now it's time to see if the other embraces the ugly, and how fast.