TAMPA – The 2021 NHL Stanley Cup Final went off pretty much as expected if you were the Tampa Bay Lighting.
In a display of their deep talent, the Lighting posted a 5-1 win Game 1 on Monday night.
A three-goal third period ended any hope the Montreal Canadiens may have mustered after they halved a two-goal deficit.
Nikita Kucherov struck twice for the Lightning and added an assist in the win.
“He’s playing like a beast right now,” Tampa’s Steven Stamkos said, “and he’s so, so good.”
The Tampa depth came through with a defensive effort, holding the Habs to 19 shots.
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 18 saves to get the win.
Ben Chiarot scored the lone Montreal goal.
“Obviously, they were going to have a good push at the start of the game,” Chiarot said. “Game 1 in their building, we knew they were going to come out pretty hard at the beginning. Once we settled in there into the second period, I thought we got our game going a bit better … and then a couple bad bounces maybe didn’t go our way tonight.”
The two teams combined for 115 hits in the match.
“Yeah, it’s one game of a seven-game series,” the Canadiens’ Jeff Petry said. “So we have to use what we did [at the Vegas Golden Knights in the Stanley Cup Semifinals], that experience, that mindset to rebound and bounce back for Game 2. We’re going to watch some clips on what we can do better, and I think everybody knows that our effort is there, but I think that we can all bring a little bit more.”
The Lightning grabbed a 1-0 lead off a goal from Erik Cernak in the first period.
“That was a huge play by ‘Pally,'” Cernak said. “‘Kuch’ did a good job too, went straight to the net, you know, took the defense from me, and I just looked to tip the puck. I was glad we got the first goal.”
Game 2 us set for Tampa on Wednesday.
“The rink was buzzing, and that’s something that we will get over and we’ll be a little bit more used to next game,” Canadiens coach Luke Richardson said. . “And I think, you know, maybe just to strike early for us will be key next game to try and weather that storm and quiet the building a little bit and let us get a rhythm going.”
Yanni Gourde pushed the lead to 2-0 in the middle frame before Chiarot scored in the second.
“I think that’s the key, going on the inside, driving the net, taking [Price’s] eyes away,” Gourde said.
Kucherov scored twice in the third third period to give the Bolts a 4-1 lead.
“‘Pointer’ is (Brayden Point) an unbelievable player,” Kucherov said. “He knows when and what to do at a certain time, and he’s a [heck] of a player. He sees the ice to make those plays. It’s just who he is. It’s fun to play with him, and he’s been unbelievable for us.”
Stamkos hammered home a power play goal with 70 seconds left in the game for the 5-1 final.
“We take it, we take tonight, we bottle it up,” Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said. “I’m happy we won and … we’ll move on to the next one and hopefully we can have the same consistent effort.”
Carey Price made 22 saves in the loss.
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