The Montreal Canadiens got their daily supply of iron on Saturday night. The Canadiens rang several shots off the posts, including both of their goals off the crossbar, on their way to a 2-1 victory in Game Five. Montreal beat Tampa Bay at home for the first time this season, including three regular season games and Games One and Two In this series. In doing so they once again averted elimination, forcing a 
Game Six on Tuesday night in Tampa Bay. Montreal had never before forced a Game Six after falling behind three games to none in a best-of-seven series.
Devante Smith-Pelly got the Canadiens on the board at 9:01 of the first period, taking a feed from Torrey Mitchell and walking in on the left-wing side. He let go a snap shot from the faceoff circle that appeared to hit the crossbar and rebound out to the right side. Play continued momentarily before the goal light came on and the Canadiens began celebrating. After a brief review, it was determined that the puck had hit the back post inside the net after hitting the crossbar. Montreal took a 1-0 lead.
“We finally got one that hit the post and went in,” Montreal goalie Carey Price said. “Again [Saturday], we hit a lot of posts. We feel like we’re generating chances and we feel like we’ve just got to keep grinding it out.”
The Canadiens’ luck finally changed with the goal, much to the relief of their head coach.
“I was getting sick of hearing, ‘Ding, ding, ding,'” Canadiens coach Michel Therrien said. “But our power play, in our eyes, was very good. It gave us momentum. We could have scored, we could have hurt them, but we need to keep going in the same direction.”
The game was physical from the start, but both teams were much more disciplined than in previous games. There would only be three power plays awarded all game, all three to the Canadiens. While Montreal was unable to convert on their power plays, they generated numerous chances and were able to build on that momentum to dominate the majority of the game.
On one of the power plays, Canadiens defenseman Jeff Petry rang a shot off the post. The rebound sat tantalizingly in the crease as winger Alex Galchenyuk tried to jam it home, but Lightning defenseman Anton Stralman made a diving play to sweep the puck out of harm’s way.
The Lightning briefly stole the momentum from the Canadiens in the third period. Stringing together several strong shifts, they generated their best chances of the game in the only period in which they outshot the Canadiens (by a 10-9 margin).
Steven Stamkos leveled the game at 9:27 of the period, picking up the rebound of an Anton Stralman point shot and firing a wrist shot past a sprawling Price.
“We were up 3-0 and they found a way,” said Lightning captain Steven Stamkos, who tied it at 1-1 with his second goal of the playoffs at 9:27 of the third period. “These guys did the same thing in round one. They were up 3-0, Ottawa won two games, they took care of business in Game 6. Hopefully we can do the same.”
Montreal retook command of the game just a minute and a half later on their third and final power play. They were unable to score, but carried over that momentum to set up the game-winner. P.K. Subban deked around a Lightning defender and fed a pass to P.A. Parenteau in the high slot. Parenteau let loose a quick-release wrist shot that beat Ben Bishop and went crossbar down to retake the lead for the Canadiens at 15:53.
“It was just instinct. I tried to get open,” Parenteau said. “I tried to surprise him with a quick shot and I did that; I don’t think he saw it.”
Tampa Bay mounted pressure over the last 4:07, pulling Bishop for an extra attacker for the last 1:26. Montreal was able to hold off the rally and hold on for the 2-1 victory.
A brief skirmish broke out after the final buzzer, with several players receiving minor penalties and one player from each side being charged with a 10-minute misconduct.
Carey Price stopped 24 of 25 shots for the win, while Bishop made 27 saves on 29 shots.
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