The Montreal Canadiens squandered a golden opportunity on Sunday night. They had a chance to take advantage of an understandably tired Tampa Bay Lightning team and even their second-round playoff series against the Tampa Bay Lightning at one game apiece. The Lightning had gone the distance in their first-round series against the 
Detroit Red Wings, winning Game Seven on Wednesday night, then played into double overtime in their opener against the Canadiens on Friday night.
With the early start on Sunday, it would be reasonable to expect that they would be a little sluggish at the outset. Montreal came flying out of the gate and skated rings around the Lightning for most of the first period.
“We had the kind of start we wanted,” Canadiens coach Michel Therrien said. “It was practically perfect, we were following our game plan to the letter. But a lack of discipline late in the first period cost us the game, it’s as simple as that.”
They swarmed the Tampa Bay defense, causing turnover after turnover and setting up a barrage of scoring chances in the early stages of the game.
The Canadiens peppered Lightning goalie Ben Bishop with shots and charged the net looking for rebounds. Bishop almost single-handedly held off the assault, allowing only one goal on 14 shots in the period. That goal came at 7:20 on a screened wrist shot from the point off the stick of Canadiens defenseman Jeff Petry.
“There was a lot of movement, we made smart decisions and we shot the puck hard,” Tampa coach Jon Cooper said. “When you’re making tape-to-tape passes, you give yourself a better chance. There was no goal bigger than Filppula’s. They were carrying the play clearly in the first period, and for them to walk into their dressing room and they have nothing to show for it, I thought that was a momentum swinger for us. I thought we took the game over after that.”
Montreal seemed to have the game completely under their control, but then they gave it away. In the second half of the first period, unable to expand upon their lead, the Canadiens seemed to become frustrated and began a parade to the penalty box.
Brandon Prust was whistled for a roughing minor at 13:45 and protested until he received an additional minor for unsportsmanlike conduct.
Even then, Montreal was able to kill the penalty and still manage to generate scoring chances. Canadiens goalie Carey Price made an acrobatic pad save on a breakaway chance by Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman.
On another late Lightning power play, Montreal winger Torrey Mitchell stripped a Tampa Bay forward of the puck at center ice, dangled through defenseman Anton Stralman, and walked in alone on Bishop. Mitchell made a nice move to the forehand for a wrist shot, but Bishop stayed right with him and turned the shot away.
Later on that same power play Valtteri Filppula one-timed a pass from Hedman past Carey Price, tying the game at 1-1 with 24 seconds left in the first period.
After a couple of chances for Montreal’s woeful power play failed to get them back into the game, Tampa Bay took control of the game for good. Steven Stamkos, the Lightning scoring machine who had been noticeable in his silence throughout the playoffs, took a long lead pass and broke in alone, deking around the outstretched pad of Price for his first goal of the playoffs to give Tampa Bay the lead.
“He’s one of the best players in the world, you can only hold him down for so long,” said Bishop, who made 27 saves for his seventh win against Montreal this season in as many games. “You know he’s going to break out. He’s been working really hard, and to see him get that goal, and it was a really nice move, too, he’s wanted it for a while. The team has been winning and he’s been doing other things besides scoring which have been helping this team win. To see him on the scoresheet, I know is a relief but he’s been doing a lot of other things besides scoring.”
Montreal’s lack of discipline would continue to be their undoing. They took stupid penalty after stupid penalty, leading to power play goals by Nikita Kucherov (on a 4-on-3 power play) and Victor Hedman to expand Tampa Bay’s lead to 4-1 as the second period wound down.
“If you eliminate the power-play goals, we’re the better team out there,” Canadiens defenseman P.K. Subban said. “I think we have to find a way to capitalize on their mistakes. They turned the puck over so many times today, and last game as well, and we’ve got to find a way to finish.”
The third period saw more of the same as Kucherov scored his second goal of the game on the power play. Montreal would finally get one back on a screened slap shot from the point off the stick of defenseman Tom Gilbert, which seemed to give Montreal some life.
It didn’t last, however, as Torrey Mitchell took a faceoff violation penalty on the ensuing faceoff. Lightning forward J.T. Brown closed out the scoring when he redirected a shot on goal that went straight up into the air, then dropped behind Price and bounced into the net.
Price stopped 18 of the 24 shots he faced, while Bishop stopped 27 of 29 for the win.
Tampa Bay went 4-for-8 on the power play, and Montreal was held scoreless in three opportunities.
The Lightning now hold a 2-0 lead in best-of-seven series, which shifts to Tampa Bay for the next two games.
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