MONTREAL, Quebec – Despite less than ideal results while in Florida to open the Final, the Montreal Canadiens hoped a change of scenery and hosting their first Final game since the Spring of 1993 would bring better results than they experienced while in Tampa Bay. It didn’t.
Tampa Bay continued their dominating play on the strength of two Tyler Johnson goals and never letting Montreal get any closer than within two as the Lightning still have not trailed at any point in the series. Jan Rutta, Victor Hedman, Nikita Kucherov, Blake Coleman netted goals in a game where physical play from their backline and quick scoring rushes were the difference.
Montreal swarmed the Lightning net from the first drop of the puck, but it was Tampa Bay who came out of the flurry with something to show for their efforts.
It took just 1:52 after the opening puck drop for the Lightning to continue their dominance in the Final.
Victor Hedman picked up a loose puck to the side of the Montreal net. The Lightning defenseman sent a pass back to a waiting Ondrej Palat on the near the point. Palat then looked to his right and sent the puck along the blue line to a waiting Jan Rutta. From the right point, Rutta fired a wrist shot toward the net which beat Montreal goaltender Carey Price, fighting off a screen in his failed effort.
“I can definitely play better,” Price said. “It’s just not good enough so far.”
Less than a minute later, Montreal’s Eric Staal was whistled for a delay of game when he sent the puck over the glass, sending Tampa Bay’s lethal power play on the ice to inflict damage.
It didn’t take long.
“We got a power play and scored right away, so a tremendous start,” Hedman said. “Then I think they kind of took over in the first. We came out with the lead, so it was a good start and I thought we set the tone. But I thought it got better in the second and it was more consistent on our part.”
Thirty-three seconds into the man-advantage, Hedman took a feed from Nikita Kucherov and blasted the puck from high between the circles, powering the drive past Price and giving the Lightning a 2-0 lead just 3:27 into the game. It was Hedman’s second of the playoffs and Kucherov’s league-leading 24th assist.
With momentum going their way, the defending champs were eager to continue on their march toward a victory and commanding series lead, but the home team, had other ideas.
After threatening and failing to light the lamp with several solid chances, the Canadiens finally broke through midway through the period.
After Caufield ringed a drive off the post at 7:24 and Montreal seemed to be close, it wasn’t until four minutes later that the pressure paid off.
That’s when the Canadiens gained control of the puck in front of their own goal after a flurry on their net. Montreal captain Shea Weber gathered the puck and sent it up ice to Philip Danault on the left side. He drove toward the net and ringed one just off the inside of the left post and past Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy to give Montreal a score on their side of the ledger. It was Danault’s first goal of the playoffs and Weber’s 5th assist. Montreal had life.
Before the period was over, Montreal went on the power play when Tampa Bay’s Mikhail Sergachev was sent off for interfering Montreal’s Artturi Lehkonen with just more than two minutes to play. The Canadiens registered three shots on goal, but none of them slipped passed Vasilevskiy.
Despite ceding the 2-1 lead to Tampa, Montreal edged the Lightning 17-12 in shots and it seemed they might put up a challenge to the defending champs after the 1st intermission. It wasn’t to be, though.
Tampa Bay started the middle frame just as they did to open the game when they gained an early goal.
Looking to punish the home team with their stretch passing, Eric Cernak sent the puck from in front of his net to the opposite blue line to a waiting Palat. He found Nikita Kucherov streaking toward the slot, sending a pass to the sniper. Kucherov deposited that pass into the far side to recapture the two-goal lead. It was Kucherov’s 8th goal of the playoffs.
Less than two minutes later, Tampa Bay’s David Savard started a play from his own zone before head-manning it to the left side where a streaking Mathieu Joseph fired a shot on net. Price made the initial save, but the rebound came right to a waiting Tyler Johnson who made it 4-1 with his 3rd of the playoffs.
Tampa Bay had the first six shots on goal to open the period before Montreal registered their first.
With just under two minutes to play, the Canadiens showed some desperately needed fight.
Nick Suzuki gathered the puck after accepting a lead pass from Jeff Petry in front of his own goal. He sped up with a burst down the right side. With Brayden Point defending for the Lighting, Suzuki sent a drive along the ice which Vasilevskiy misplayed with an exposed area under his right pad, allowing the Canadiens to cut the lead in half and generating some needed energy in an otherwise dismal showing by the home team.
The pressure continued as Montreal buzzed the Lightning, seemingly sensing a potential weakness in the previously firm Tampa Bay defense, but they would not get closer to tightening that lead as the middle frame ended.
Montreal held the lead on shots 25 to 21, but had little to show for the edge heading into the third period.
The Canadiens would have to do something different to generate some more productive looks, a momentum swing and maybe some double-shifting or line changes to have a shot against Tampa Bay.
It started out well, but never led to Montreal getting closer.
With 4:41 left to play, Tampa Bay’s Tyler Johnson hammered a shot that caught Price awkwardly near his blocker, leaving a rebound that Johnson followed up on, sending the puck behind the Montreal netminder to give Tampa Bay a 5-2 lead. It was Johnson’s 2nd of the game and 4th of the playoffs.
“I know how fun it was last year when we won, so I want to do that again,” Johnson said. “You don’t know how many chances you’re going to get, and any time you get this close, you really feel it. I think winning last year makes you even want to win it more, and I think everyone kind of feels that way, and we’re really excited.
“But there’s still a lot more to do. We still have one more game [to win]. We know the fourth one’s always the toughest and we’re going to have to have a really good game.”
Tampa was in control, but the lead shrunk when just 39 seconds later, Montreal pulled Price for the 6th attacker. Montreal’s Brendan Gallagher sent a shot just wide to the right of the Lightning goal. Teammate Corey Perry picked up the loose puck and fired a shot from near the goal line and just over Vasilevskiy’s left shoulder to narrow the lead to 5-3.
But that was as close as Montreal would get.
“We have a game plan and everybody’s buying in and everybody’s doing their job,” Kucherov said. “And when everybody’s doing their job, it makes it easier. And we want to play a full 60 minutes the right way, and that’s what we’re doing right now.”
Blake Coleman potted an empty net goal to make it 6-3 with just less than three minutes remaining.
Tampa Bay looks forward to Game Four and a chance to close out the series against Montreal. The last time a sweep took place in the Stanley Cup Final was in 1998 when the Detroit Red Wings defeated the Washington Capitals.
“We put ourselves in a hole early, and it’s tough to dig yourself out of a hole against a team like that, that plays pretty stingy,” the Canadiens’ Shea Weber said.
A victory for Tampa Bay in Game Four on Monday night will also be the first time since 2017 a team has won back-to-back titles. Before that, the 1998 Red Wings team was the last to win back-to-back titles.
There is a good chance the next hockey after Monday night will be opening night in October, this after the Seattle Kraken expansion draft on Wednesday, July 21st and the NHL Entry Draft on Friday and Saturday, July 23rd and 24th.
Dennis Morrell has enjoyed many years of experience in the great game as a hockey writer, photographer, goalie coach, player and currently as an active USA Hockey-certified referee with over 1,200 games carrying the whistle and wearing a striped jersey. His passion for the game began in the early 70s with his first glance at skaters at Clayton’s Shaw Park. He can be reached at dennis.morrell@prohockeynews.com
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