CANADIENS
Montreal

LIGHTNING
Tampa Bay

Game Report

Overheard at a Tampa support group: “Hi, my name is Ben. I’m lucky but I want to be good, like this guy in red I know.”

The Canadiens hit three posts in the second period alone (Carey Price called them “square posts.”)  And a puck that Ben Bishop lost behind him in the crease was barely cleared by Anton Stralman a fraction of a second ahead of the arrival of Alex Galchenyuk’s stick.

Many would argue that puck luck has been on the side of the Tampa Bay Lightning throughout this series. There was evidence of more in this game but have the Bolts gone to that well once too often?  Or as P.K. Subban said, “horseshoes.”

Let’s not confuse what’s being said, the Lightning are a talented, highly-skilled, well-coached team.  But the Canadiens have two things that Tampa does not: an elite goaltender capable of carrying the full load of his team, and a collective will to find ways to win.  That combination has been so powerful that, if not for good fortune, officiating miscues and some adept coaching to offset, the Canadiens may have already ended this series.

I’d wager that if this series came down to being decided by a shootout and for some crazy reason Carey Price was the only Habs player allowed to participate, as a goaltender and a shooter, the Canadiens would win hands down.  While Ben continues to look shaky, Price’s game has gone to another level, if that is even possible. Price amazed with an incredible pad stop to rob Brenden Morrow, but the glove save on Valtteri Filppula had seasoned reporters writing things like “one of the greatest saves I’ve ever seen.”

When asked about the save after the game, Price responded, “I just found a way to get a piece of it.”

Meanwhile things are not so sunny on the Tampa side.  Ben Bishop is stacking up the soft goals.  With his confidence several notches below optimum, having been pulled in Game 4, it was crucial for the Canadiens to get to Bishop early. And they did.

For the second game in a row, the Habs score the first goal before the midway point of the first period. And while the shot was ripped by Devante Smith-Pelly, if Bishop is correctly playing the angle, there’s no way that shot should beat him short side. The game-winner was a well-placed flutterball over Bishop’s glove by P.A. Parenteau (after a great setup by Subban.) A tougher save, but it was a shot that Bishop didn’t track well even in the absence of a direct screen.

That didn’t stop Bishop from taking a shot at his own team in the post-game scrum saying, “It’s tough when you only show up for half the game.”  An interesting comment, especially given that Bishop played less than a half a game on Thursday night giving up three goals on just 14 shots.

The goals by Parenteau and Smith-Pelly were their first of the playoffs. The offensive load continues to be spread around.  It was another ‘0-for’ night for the Canadiens power-play but it did create scoring chances and provided positive momentum.

Montreal did a great job winning puck battles until the third period when Jon Cooper made an adjustment to the Lightning forecheck. Once the ‘switch was flipped’ the Canadiens had a hard time adjusting to the two-man forecheck. Where was Michel Therrien with the counter?

Jeff Petry and Alexei Emelin played an outstanding game, most often matched up against the Stamkos line.  Stamkos scored midway through the third with the pair of P.K. Subban and Andrei Markov on the ice. Subban left Stamkos alone trying to block the point shot.

After the game, Nathan Beaulieu said that it was the fastest game he’d ever played.  And it showed. For all of his smooth skating, Beaulieu got caught pinching a couple of times, The pairing with Tom Gilbert was an adventure most of the night.  When Emelin left the game with an injury late in the third period, the Canadiens went with four defenseman. Beaulieu remained on the bench with the Lightning pressing.

Lars Eller continued his strong play as his line was assigned the task of shutting down Tampa’s most productive line of Ondrej Palat, Nikita Kucherov and Tyler Johnson. The Tampa trio contributed just five shots to the scoresheet. Eller was 67 per cent in the faceoff circle.

Tampa’s winning streak is a distant memory. Bishop’s stellar record against the Habs is in the trash bin.  This version of the Canadiens has accomplished something that no other team in the 109 year life of the franchise was able to do: force a series to a sixth game after being down 3-0.

This is a very special team. They leave for Tampa on Sunday with the right to play one more game.

▲▲ Carey Price

▲     Alexei Emelin, Jeff Petry, Lars Eller, P.A. Parenteau

▼     Tom Gilbert, Nathan Beaulieu, Torrey Mitchell

1.  P.A. Parenteau  MTL
2.  Carey Price  MTL
3.  Ben Bishop  TBL

• “I was getting sick of hearing, ‘Ding, ding, ding. 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.”
• “That’s why [Carey Price] is the best player in the League, you know, and we’re glad to have the best player in the League with our team. He makes those big saves at the right time of the game and you could feel the energy on the bench. Carey Price was outstanding [Saturday].”
• “We’re going to do everything that we can to force Game 7 in Montreal, that’s for sure.”
• “This is a team that refuses to die. They battle hard, and there was no sense of panic, even when Tampa scored a goal – we got better when they scored that goal. We want to put the pressure on Tampa. It’s not easy – we were there a couple weeks ago – having a three-game lead. The longer it takes you to get that fourth one, the more the pressure builds.”

Carey Price

• “We finally got one that hit the post and went in. Again tonight, 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.”

P.A. Parenteau

• “It doesn’t surprise me with the group of guys we have. We were relentless all year, we never gave up in games, and it’s not any different right now. We’re a solid group of guys, we’re a good hockey team, we know what we can accomplish when we play well and we’re just hoping we’re going to get some bounces now.”
• “We were moving the puck well on the power play [Saturday], which I’m pretty glad we did that. I did hit the post and we had a couple more chances after that, but we didn’t get discouraged. We kept playing hard and we got rewarded at the end.”

Devante Smith-Pelly

• “I think any goal in the playoffs is pretty big, but to get one here at the Bell Centre felt really good. It’s definitely near the top of my list. I think it sent everybody a rush of adrenaline. Right after that goal we were all into it for the next couple of shifts, including the crowd. It was a pretty good boost for us.”

Max Pacioretty

• “It sounds cliché, but we love this group and we love spending time together. Now we get one more road trip together, and we’re not ready to call it a season just yet.”

Lightning forward Steven Stamkos

• “We were up 3-0 and they found a way. 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.”

Lightning coach Jon Cooper

• “The three goals scored [Saturday], I don’t think the goalies have a chance on all three of them. That’s pretty much how it’s going to go to beat these guys.”
• “It’s probably the way this series should play out. These are two even teams. We’ve taken two of the close ones, they’ve taken one. We each have a blowout. It’s 3-2, that’s it.”