Canadiens beat Lightning to force Game 6
The Montreal Canadiens forced a Game 6 against the Tampa Bay Lightning. (USATSI)
Every night during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Eye On Hockey writers Adam Gretz and Chris Peters will bring you up to speed everything you need to know about all of the action around the NHL. Here’s what you need to know about Canadiens vs. Lightning, Game 5.
Montreal Canadiens vs. Tampa Bay Lightning, Game 5
Canadiens 2, Lightning 1 | Lightning lead series 3-2 | Game 6, Tuesday
Game 5 in a nutshell: And we have a series again. The Montreal Canadiens avoided elmination again on Saturday night with a 2-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning, sending the series to a Game 6 on Tuesday night in Tampa Bay. The Lightning, which has now lost two in a row, did not have one three-game losing streak in the regular season. They are now in danger of experiencing their first at the worst possible time.
Turning point: What else can it be other than the P.A. Parenteau‘s game-winning goal late in the third period just a few minutes after Tampa Bay tied the game at one on a Steven Stamkos goal? Even though Parenteau ended up scoring the goal, it was set up by some spectacular work by P.K. Subban at the blue line. Subban was tremendous on Saturday and nearly had a goal of his own earlier in the night, firing a shot off the post behind Lightning goalie Ben Bishop.
Three things we learned
1. The Montreal Canadiens did something on Saturday night they have never done before by sending a playoff series to a Game 6 after losing the first three games of the series. And now they have a chance to force a Game 7 on Tuesday night with a win in Tampa Bay. For a team to overcome a 3-0 series deficit it’s probably going to need some great goaltending, and Montreal is getting it right now — just as it has all season — from Carey Price. He was sensational once again on Saturday night in stopping 24 of the 25 shots he faced. It’s also helped that Tampa Bay might playing some of its worst hockey of the season right now.
2. If you like goals, you should probably avoid the Eastern Conference playoffs. Seriously. Game 5 on Saturday was already the 22nd game this postseason that has ended with the winning team scoring no more than two goals. There were only 15 in the entire NHL playoffs a year ago (Yes … already seven more and we’re not even through the second round yet). Out of those games, 18 of them have involved the Eastern Conference.
3. Speaking of a lack of offense, even though the Lightning received a goal from Steven Stamkos on Saturday night, his second of the playoffs, it is now the fifth time over the past six games they have failed to score more than two goals. For a team that was the highest scoring team in the regular season, that is a pretty big deal. Credit for the Canadiens and Carey Price for playing great and shutting them down, but it was also odd to see the Lightning only go with 11 forwards (and seven defensemen) on Saturday. Especially when one of those forwards was Brenden Morrow, who now has just three goals in 80 regular season and playoff games this season, over the more skilled Jonathan Drouin and Vladislav Namestnikov.
Video of the game: Devante Smith-Pelly gets Montreal on the board early in the first period with a rocket of a shot that beats Lightning goalie Ben Bishop.
What a snipe. Smith-Pelly lights the lamp and puts @CanadiensMTL ahead. #MTLvsTBL #StanleyCup http://t.co/zZfC0a3tmK
— NHL (@NHL) May 9, 2015
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