Athens carried their Game 4 momentum into Game 5 and it was just enough to give them the lead in the series, as the Greeks upended Paris 4-3 in France. The Greeks could win the series and make their first Cup Finals with a win at home on Wednesday.

In Monday’s game, the Greeks scored three powerplay goals, two of them coming in a three-goal outburst in the middle period, and they were able to hold onto the lead despite two third-period goals by Paris’ Lee Stempniak and Tom Pyatt. Paris came out of the gates fast, firing 18 first-period shots on the Athens goal, but Cam Ward got a body part on all of the shots except 1 by Alexander Semin. Scott Hartnell tied the game and the teams went into the lockerrooms tied at 1. But early in the second period, it became the David Backes show. The American center passed to Jason Pominville and Pommer put Athens in front with a low one-timer to beat Tuukka Rask. Then Backes assisted on a powerplay goal by Ian White and then again on Hartnell’s second goal of the game and 9th of the post season. Athens went on to successfully stalled the pace of the game and frustrated Paris’ high-octane offense. Fill-in defenseman Steve Oleksy played an excellent game for the Rouges Eiffels. He had an assist, 5 hits, 2 blocked shots and finished the game as a plus 1. But whether he plays again will be up to coach Michel Therrien, because Paris gets a boost for Game 6 with  injured defenseman Ken Kuusk and forward Joffrey Lupul both getting the go-ahead from team doctors to play. Therrien indicated already that Kuusk and Lupul will be in the lineup on Wednesday.