As the regular season has come to an end, Last Word On Sports analyzes every playoff series. In the first installment, we take a look at the matchups in five categories: Offense, defense, goaltending, coaching and special teams. We also run down the players to look out for and give our final assessment on how the series will pan out. In the second portion, we will analyze what went down in the series, how the matchups led to the outcome and cover all important storylines.
The Tampa Bay Lightning will be going on to the Eastern Conference Final for the first time since 2010-11. They beat out the Montreal Canadiens in an up and down six game series, which Tampa had a 3-0 stranglehold at first then Montreal wrestled back to win the next two, but ultimately fell in an emotional 4-1 game six.
Series Recap: Habs versus Bolts
Game 1
The first game of the Montreal-Tampa rematch was a dominating game for the Habs up until the third period when Bolt’s Tyler Johnson put his league-leading 7th goal of the playoffs just two minutes in. 12 minutes later, Hab’s Max Pacioretty tied it up with his 3rd goal. The game went into overtime, but both sides were unable to score in the first OT frame. Nikita Kucherov almost had a goal only 2 minutes into the first OT, but it was waved off due to his pushing both Carey Price’s pad and the puck into the net. The game went into the second OT, only to be ended by Kucherov scoring 2 minutes in, this time the goal stuck and Tampa takes a 1-0 lead over the Habs.
Game 2
Bell Centre: One of the great cathedrals of Stanley Cup Playoff hockey in the league. To protect this home ice, the Canadiens had to settle for a split to avoid from going to Tampa Bay down 2-0 in a role reversal of last year’s playoffs. After what we saw in Game 1, the second contest of this best-of-seven had a tough act to follow. The Habs would strike first at 7:20, as Jeff Petry connected for his first career playoff goal. After Tampa failed to capitalize on a 4-minute powerplay late in the period, they got another chance and made good. Valtteri Filppula finished off a one-timer from the right circle to tie the game at one after 20. The second saw a seizure in momentum for the visitors, as after Montreal failed to capitalize on two early powerplays, the Lightning took care of business on theirs. After Steven Stamkos broke his 12-game playoff goal drought at the 8:06 mark, the man advantage went to work. A tic-tac-toe passing play from the Lightning captain and Tyler Johnson finished by Game 1 hero Nikita Kucherov on the 5-on-3 extended the lead to 3-1 at 12:29. The Bolts would add another powerplay goal late, as Victor Hedman finished a backdoor play from Alex Kilhorn to make it 4-1 heading into the final stanza. The Lightning would add a fourth powerplay goal in the final period, with Kucherov getting his third of the series. The Lightning would cruise to a 6-2 win in the Bell Centre, giving the Lightning the ultimate home-ice advantage with the best home record in the league.
Game 3
After getting blown out of the water in game 2 to a 6-2 score, the Habs stormed back to try and win a game. They dominated much of the game, but still let Tampa get up on the scoreboard first when Alex Killorn scored with eight minutes before the first intermission. Then halfway through the third period, Brendan Gallagher, who was the birthday boy on that night, scored a beauty on Bishop’s five hole and managed to tie it up to give the Habs a fighting chance. With time winding down in the last period, it looked as if this game was going into OT. But Tyler Johnson had other plans as he stepped on the ice with six seconds left in the game. He got right in front of Carey Price and took a short pass from Victor Hedman to score the game winning goal with just 1.1 seconds left in the game, giving the Bolts a commanding 3-0 series chokehold on the Habs.
Game 4
At this time a week ago last season, the Tampa Bay Lightning were sitting in the same position as the Montreal Canadiens currently do. Down 3-0 in the series on the road to Montreal. Last season, Montreal finished it off at home, and this season, Tampa Bay was looking to do the same. The desperate attitude was felt from puck drop. Andrei Markov scored his first goal in ten postseason games this season 2:44 into the contest, quieting down Amalie Arena. Max Pacioretty would add another just about six minutes later shorthanded, and the Habs had a 2-0 lead heading into the intermission. Just over five minutes into the second, it got worse for Tampa Bay. On the Habs’ 14th shot, they scored their third goal, as David Desharnais boomed a shot off of the glove of goaltender Ben Bishop and in, the third instance this postseason that has happened to the Tampa netminder. The 28-year old was pulled and gave way to the young Andrei Vasilevskiy after giving up three on 14 shots, this after allowing 6 goals his previous five games. Two goals in 15 seconds at the halfway mark gave the Habs a 5-0 lead. Reminder: They came into the game scoring 4 goals in 3 games. The Lightning would get one back in the period and then open the third with a powerplay goal, as Nikita Kucherov netted the first goal and Ondrej Palat finished a nice passing play with Tyler Johnson to make it 5-2 17 seconds into the final stanza. A goal by Brandon Prust however, extended the Montreal lead back to four at 6-2 a few minutes later, leaving no doubt who would stay alive in this series.
Game 5
Staring down the barrel of a gun after being down 3-1 in the series, the Habs drained any energy the Bolts thought of bringing to this game, as they dominated most of the game, only giving the Bolts a couple minutes at a time in the game. Devante Smith-Pelly started the scoring by channeling his inner Alex Ovechkin and scored on a laser that Ben Bishop struggled to save. Steven Stamkos then tied it up when a small scrum ensued in front of Price leading to goaltender knocking the puck in. Price unable to extend his glove to catch it in time. In the third period, P.K. Subban had the puck at the Bolts blue line, did a juke past Alex Killorn, and did a crisp pass to P.A. Parenteau, who was waiting for the one timer and sent it floating 15 feet away right past Bishop’s shoulder. The Habs stayed strong for the remainder of the third and staved off elimination and lived to play game 6 in Tampa.
Game 6
After a couple wins on the road and at home to stay alive, the Canadiens came into Amalie Arena for Game 6 looking to come all the way back and force a Game 7 back at Centre Bell. After a strong defensive start for both teams, the Lightning had the icebreaker. Nikita Kucherov tipped a puck that Ondrej Palat threw from the wall into the top corner of the net with 4:25 remaining in the period to give the Lightning a 1-0 lead. The defensive battle continued into the second, with both goalies standing tall on any opportunity that came their way. The Lightning would break through again as the captain would score his 3rd in 5 games. Steven Stamkos showed off his ultra release to extend the lead to 2-0. Tampa would get the backbreaker later in the period, with Ondrej Palat cashing in from in close. Montreal would score late to make a game of it, but Nikita Kucherov potted his 6th of the playoffs into the empty net to seal the series for the home team.
Storylines.
The Post Saves The Day.
One common occurrence this post season series was there was a lot of pings and tings from pucks hitting the post on both sides. It even happened when goals were scored. If the posts were not constant targets, especially for the Habs, this series may have gone a different way. The scoring of 13 goals in 6 games definitely would have been higher.
Tampa Bay’s Stars Shine When it Counts
Steven Stamkos finished the first round with 0 goals in 7 games. He ended this series with 3 in six games, including the game-winner in Game 2 and the deciding tally Game 6. Nikita Kucherov finished the Detroit series with 0 goals and 4 assists. He ended the Montreal series with six more goals, winning Game 1 in overtime. The captain and the Johnson line came to play in the deciding game, combining for five points. Max Pacioretty’s line combined for 5 goals and 9 points, scoring almost half of Montreal’s goals for in this series, 13 goals in 6 games. 6 of those goals came in one game. It was definitely a factor of why the Habs were eliminated.
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