Since the best-of-seven series format started in 1939, only five teams have managed to come back from a 2-0 deficit in the Stanley Cup Final. If the Montreal Canadiens want to bring home Lord Stanley, they’ll need to become the sixth.
Tampa Bay takes Game 2, 3-1, and heads to Canada with history well and truly on its side. Blake Coleman‘s superb buzzer-beater in the second period proved the difference in a tense second encounter at Amalie Arena.
Tampa Bay Lightning Up 2-0 in Repeat Quest
The scoreline certainly doesn’t do Montreal justice, who despite generating copious opportunities, couldn’t solve Andrei Vasilevskiy. Tampa’s Vezina-finalist netminder finished with 42 saves on the night and improves to .938 in the postseason.
The Lightning were fortunate to take Game 2. But as is always the case with a team stacked with talent, all you need is one opportunity. For John Cooper’s side, that came in the dying embers of the second frame.
After a heavy check along the wall in the neutral zone, the puck squirted to Blake Coleman who chipped it into the offensive zone past Ben Chiarot. As he caught up with it and regathered, he fed a centering backhanded pass into the low slot where a diving Blake Coleman stuffed it home à la Patrick Kane‘s superman All-Star penalty shot. There were just 0.3 seconds left on the clock. It was a jaw-dropping piece of skill that bookended a five-minute flurry of end-to-end chances. In hindsight, this tally likely deflated a Canadiens team that bossed the second period from start to finish.
Stanley Cup Final Game 2 Review
All in all, the Habs were the better team in the first period. Not only did they stifle Tampa’s early powerplay opportunities but they also produced better chances. As you would expect, their offensive threat continues to come on the rush. Two minutes into the contest, Suzuki split the neutral zone coverage on the back of a bad Bolts line change, only to be denied by a timely poke check by Andrei Vasilevskiy. Later Tyler Toffoli blocked a speculative drive by Ryan McDonagh at the top of the left circle which freed him on a breakaway. Although, his effort was fought off once again by Tampa’s netminder.
Into the second period and Tampa opened the scoring against the run of play. Corey Perry threw a lazy outlet pass into the neutral zone which was brought back in by Sergachev. On the resulting cycle, Anthony Cirelli tossed a point shot through traffic and the puck fluttered through Carey Price to make it 1-0 Tampa Bay. In the immediate aftermath, Montreal went into overdrive.
For the next five minutes, the Canadiens outshot the Lightning 11-0 and leveled the scoring in the process. Nick Suzuki sent a backhander on net from the point which Vasilevskiy completely whiffed on, expecting McDonagh to clear it away from danger. In the end, the puck went five-hole to give Montreal a much-deserved equalizer on the powerplay.
Canadiens Finding No Way Through
The Canadiens continued to put the foot on the throttle but couldn’t find another opening. First Chiarot drove a slapshot into a Lightning stick which deflected on goal and was parried away by Vasy. Later Petry found Gallagher for a clever redirect but perfect positioning helped the Russian phenom pull off another spectacular save.
Meanwhile, the Lightning’s go-ahead goal at the end of the second gave them a renewed sense of urgency. For large periods in the second, they looked lethargic and worn out. Montreal had played a heavy checking game and refused to let them settle into their groove. But after they notched their second, Tampa played an end-to-end third period and finally broke the back of the tie in the final five minutes.
Joel Edmundson and Jeff Petry had an unfortunate miscommunication behind the net which led to a reverse pass turnover leaving Palat to shoot at a gaping cage. As Tampa went 3-1 up, they put the nail in the Habs’ coffin.
Reasons For Habs Optimism
Montreal has plenty of positives to take from this game. For starters, they completely dominated proceedings and were only denied by world-class goaltending. The Canadiens outshot Tampa 16-4 in the second frame and responded well to going behind. Nick Suzuki and the second line were fabulous. They created plenty of opportunities with smart defensive positioning and lethal breakout speed. On another night Suzuki’s nine shots would have produced more than the solitary goal.
Furthermore, as a unit, the Habs showed discipline on the kill. They kept the box tight and really only surrendered one chance to Point in the slot, who missed the net on a one-timer. Joel Armia immediately made his presence felt on his return, proving a nuisance to Tampa’s set-up on the man advantage; he threw his body around and muscled the puck out of the zone while taking away any seam pass opportunities. Tampa went 0 for 3 on the man advantage.
Going Forward
Tampa Bay has now limited their opponents to two or fewer goals in 13 out of 20 games; they’ve won 12 of those 13. Needless to say, the Habs may require an offensive explosion if they are going to make this series interesting.
Right now, Stanley Cup Final history is stacked against them but they showed enough fight in Game 2 to suggest that a comeback isn’t out of the question.
