TAMPA, Florida – After racing out to a 3-0 series lead, the Tampa Bay Lightning may have become a little too confident as they approached closing out the series in game four. Montreal dominated game four with a 6-2 victory and then returned home to take game five with a 2-1 result. Frustrated at being unable to close-out the Canadiens and getting some much needed rest, Tampa Bay returned home to give the fans a series victory on home ice. The Lightning did not disappoint, delivering a powerful 4-1 victory to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.
Both teams came out flying in the opening period, trading chances until late in the period when Montreal was aggressive in the Lightning zone. Brendan Gallagher was relentless against the Tampa Bay defense, freeing up a bouncing puck which found its’ way to the stick of teammate Tomas Plekanec. The Montreal sniper found himself at the edge of the crease with the upper portion of the net wide open, but could not raise it over the left pad of Lightning goaltender Ben Bishop. It was a key turning point of the game.
Two and a half minutes later and with just four and a half minutes left in the period, the balance of power between the teams began to take shape. Nikita Kucherov entered the Montreal zone on the far side and laid into a blast that was blocked by Montreal’s Alexei Emelin. A week clearing effort by Plekanec led to the puck being intercepted by Tampa Bay’s Ondrej Palat. He corralled the puck at the near boards and sent a shot on Montreal goaltender Carey Price. Kucherov, now in front of the Canadiens’ goal, got the toe of his blade on the drive, deflecting it just inside the post and under the bar to draw first blood. It was Kucherov’s fifth goal of the post-season on the Lightning’s fifth shot of the game.
Sensing the shift in momentum, Tampa Bay continued to apply pressure on Price. The Lightning pinned the Canadiens into the own zone and in the final four and a half minutes, sent seven quality shots on net. One of them was from Tampa Bay captain Steven Stamkos who was stoned in-close by Price with two and half to play in the first frame. The Montreal goaltender spelled all of them, allowing his team to survive the period and regroup at intermission, trailing the game 13-6 in shots and 1-0 on the scoreboard.
Stamkos, now playing on the wing, one of several brilliant line combinations applied by Lightning coach Jon Cooper, did light the lamp early in the second period. The play began with Matt Carle picking up the loose puck in the neutral zone on the near side. He fed the puck up ice to Alex Killorn who crossed into the Montreal zone. As Killorn skated to the top of the circles, he slid the puck to Stamkos who sent a wristed rocket over Price’s shoulder and just under the bar for the 2-0 lead. It was the second goal of the series for Stamkos who had gone 12 games with just one goal before Saturday night’s game five.
With under two minutes to play in the second period, Montreal had a golden chance to narrow the score when Max Pacioretty tipped a shot by Brendan Gallagher on net. Bishop made the stick save, but sent the rebound out to a waiting P.A. Parenteau. The Montreal winger sent a drive on net with Bishop sprawled across the crease. The effort glanced off the far side of the goal and out of harm’s way. As had been the case earlier in the game, after Montreal threatened, Tampa Bay came back to finish a play with success.
With just more than a minute to play and Montreal’s Devante Smith-Pelly off for holding Cedric Paquette, the Lightning won the draw and set-up inside the Canadiens’ zone. Anton Stralman held the puck at the blue line before sending it to Palat at the far circle. Palat sent a pass into the corner for Nikita Kucherov and went to the net. Montreal’s Andrei Markov failed to stay with Palat who received the puck from Kucherov and sent a shot past Price to the far blocker side for the 3-0 lead.
Play ended with Tampa Bay holding an 8-7 edge in shots and 21-13 through two periods.
Montreal was undeterred in the effort to stave off elimination, but they need Price to keep things in check. Just a minute into the third period, Tampa Bay’s Tyler Johnson entered the Montreal zone as part of a two-on-one with Ondrej Palat. Johnson nearly converted the pretty pass from Palat, but Price sealed his left pad to the ice to prevent a goal.
The Canadiens had their chance to get back into the game just seven minutes into the period. That is when Dale Weise controlled a bouncing puck at the center red line and went in all alone on Bishop. Uncontested by the Lightning defense, Weise sent a shot on net which Bishop snared with his catch glove and held it for a face-off. It was consistent with how Bishop played the entire game, shutting Montreal down at every chance.
As the game wound down and with under five minutes to play, the Canadiens would penetrate Bishop’s dominance. After Braydon Coburn tried to clear the puck out of the zone along the glass at the far side, the puck hit a stanchion and bounced back into play near the Tampa Bay defenseman and a couple of Montreal forwards. Max Pacioretty got a quick shot off which Bishop saved. The puck bounced right back to Gallagher who protected it before sending a pass to Pacioretty at the near side. With Bishop down, Pacioretty lifted the puck over Bishop’s right pad to close the Tampa Bay lead to 3-1.
The hope was short-lived, though. Just under two minutes to play, Kucherov would close out the scoring with empty net goal delivered from center ice to secure the 4-1 victory and allowing Tampa Bay to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.
Tampa Bay outshot the Canadiens 7-6 in the period and 28-19 for the game.
The keys to victory involved Stamkos playing on the wing for the second straight game, a move by coach Jon Cooper that put the Lightning captain on track with a goal in his last two games. After registering just three assists in the seven-game series against the Red Wings, Stamkos finished with three goals and seven points against Montreal. He registered at least a point in the last five games including goals in the last two games.
Nikita Kucherov netted the first and last goal of the game and added an assist on four shots. He finished with six goals in the series and seven points in the series after registering just four assists in the seven-game series against Detroit.
Ben Bishop delivered a second straight series victory and now holds an 8-5 post season record with a 1.81 goals against average and a 0.931 save percentage with one shutout. With the victory, Bishop is the first goaltender since Glenn Hall during the 1960-61 season to defeat Montreal nine times in one season.
The Lightning await the winner of the series between the New York Rangers and Washington Capitals, scheduled to resume with a decisive game seven Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan. If New York wins the series, the Lightning will open on the road whereas if Washington is the victor, the Eastern Conference Finals will open in Florida.
It will be Tampa Bay’s third appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals, the first coming during their Stanley Cup-winning season of 2003-04 when they defeated the Philadelphia Flyers in seven games. Their most recent appearance was in the 2010-11 season when they lost to eventual Stanley Cup-champion Boston Bruins in seven games.
With lightning-fast speed, stellar goaltending and a physically intimidating defensive corps, Tampa Bay will be a formidable opponent the remainder of the playoffs.
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