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Lightning vs. Canadiens: Game One Recap |
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The Tampa Bay Lightning were thoroughly outplayed in game one of their Eastern Conference Quarterfinal matchup with the Montreal Canadiens, and they ultimately paid for it on the scoreboard. After taking advantage of some “Playoff Price” goaltending and scrapping their way to an undeserved tie game through regulation, the Bolts ultimately dropped a 5-4 overtime decision.
If you were to assert that Wednesday’s defensive performance was one of Tampa’s worst this year, you wouldn’t hear me arguing. After making so much of the possession advantage that the Lightning had heading into this game, it was Montreal who dominated the play from start to finish. A combination of horrendous offensive play by the Lightning and stellar defensive coverage by the Canadiens thwarted every Bolts rush. The Fenwick chart for the game is perhaps the best evidence of that.
As the chart clearly shows, Montreal took control of the game early and never relinquished it. You’d be hard-pressed to find any significant segment of play in which Tampa controlled the momentum. Quite frankly, it was a clinic by the Canadiens.
The only reason this game wasn’t over early on was the uncharacteristically bad play of one Carey Price. In addition to all the possession talk, I made note of the difference between “Regular Season Price” and “Playoff Price” in the pregame blog. “Playoff Price” reared his ugly head on Wednesday night, and the Bolts managed to take advantage. Three of the four Lightning goals were simply clean shots that eluded the Montreal goaltender. His poor play didn’t end up being consequential, as the guys in front of him scraped out their victory in the first extra frame.
Things didn’t start out so bad for the Bolts, as Nikita Kucherov actually gave them a 1-0 lead midway through the first period. Assisted by JT Brown and Cedric Paquette, Kucherov finished off the play with a quick wrist shot from the slot that beat Price cleanly.
Just as it looked like Tampa might be able to build on Kucherov’s first career playoff goal, a defensive miscue and a bit of a goaltending blunder led to Montreal’s first tally of the postseason. After making Radko Gudas look like a fool with a slick deke move, Tomas Plekanec sent a quick shot past Anders Lindback to tie things up at one. Plekanec’s goal, assisted by Alexei Emelin and Brendan Gallagher, was scored only 19 seconds after Kucherov made it 1-0. Any momentum that Lightning might have been able to grab from the young Russian’s marker quickly evaporated.
The big narrative on the Twittersphere following period one was that the Bolts were lucky to be in a tie game. While the Lightning were only able to fire four shots at Carey Price in the first frame, the Canadiens managed to send 14 at Lindback.
Despite again being outplayed to start the second period, the Lightning scored a 2-1 goal at the 13:24 mark courtesy of Steven Stamkos. The captain skated into the Montreal zone and wired a great shot from the wing past Price. I’ll give credit to Stamkos for having one of the best shots in the league, but Tampa’s second goal was another one where “Playoff Price” was on full display. He’s got to have that one.
Again, just as they did the first time, Tampa gave Montreal a grade-A scoring chance only seconds after notching the go-ahead goal. The second time around, however, the Canadiens weren’t able to convert. They did manage to score a tying goal minutes later though, as Brian Gionta scored on a shorthanded breakaway to knot things up at two. After Lindback made the initial save, Gionta was able to pot home his own rebound before any Lightning player could clear the puck away.
The Canadiens got their first lead of the night just over five minutes into the third when Lars Eller sent home his first of the postseason. Eller cut to the middle on a two-on-one rush, froze Lightning defenseman Matt Carle (who had a brutal game), and then flipped the puck past Lindback with a quick shot. As bad as the defensive coverage on the play was, Lindback would probably like that goal back.
With their first lead of the game and series in hand, the Canadiens really didn’t show any sign of slowing down. I thought for sure that the 3-2 goal would be enough to power them past the Lightning, as Tampa had just shown nothing through 45 minutes of play. I was wrong. The back-and-forth continued. Alex Killorn took advantage of a Montreal turnover two minutes after Eller scored and slapped home his first of the series to knot things at three.
The teams weren’t done there.
Before the third period buzzer rang, Thomas Vanek and Steven Stamkos traded goals to knot things up at four. Vanek tipped home his first playoff goal as a Canadien at the 11:30 mark, and Stamkos scored his second of the night less than two minutes later. Both goals came as the offensive skaters were able to take advantage of some lethargic defensive coverage. On the Vanek goal specifically, Eric Brewer had his skates stuck in cement which allowed Vanek to grab inside position for the tip-in tally.
The game moved into the overtime period, as neither team was able to score again before the end of regulation. Overtime was probably Tampa’s best period of the hockey game, despite the fact that they were again outplayed by the Canadiens. That probably speaks to just how bad things were from the Lightning’s perspective.
Despite their improved play in the extra frame, I just never got the feeling that the Bolts were going to pull a victory out of that hot mess of a hockey game. The Hockey Gods have a tendency to reward teams that work hard, and they did that again on Wednesday. After being stymied by the post late in overtime, the Canadiens got their second chance and made the most of it. Blown Lightning coverage left forward Dale Weise (yes, that Dale Weise) alone in front, and he made no mistake popping the puck past Lindback for the winner. It was a fitting end to a dreadful hockey game for the home team.
The loss is a painful one for the Bolts, as it leaves the team with more questions than answers. In addition to being brutally outplayed and outmatched on the ice, it’s probably fair to say that the Lightning were outcoached too. That’s not something I’ve been able to say many times this year. Michel Therrien had his way with systems, matchups, and just about everything else. Jon Cooper, for his part, seemed to have trouble adapting.
With the win, Montreal now has home ice advantage in this series, meaning that Tampa will have to win one on the road if they want to move on to the semifinal. By the sounds of things, they might have to do that without Ondrej Palat. Palat was apparently injured as a result of a harmless looking knee-on-knee collision with PK Subban. Cooper’s postgame quotes don’t exactly sound promising.
The final note I'll make is this: While Lindback might want a goal or two back, he is absolutely not to blame for the loss. He made some phenomenal saves and was one of only a few bright spots on an otherwise dark night. He gave the team more than a simple chance to win. It's too bad the skaters failed to perform in front of him.
Game two of this one will take place on Friday night. While it’s still incredibly early, the Lightning almost need a win if they want to stay alive. Going 0-2 on home ice to start the playoffs is never a recipe for success. The good news for Tampa is that Price looked unbelievably beatable tonight. If they can get back to being a good possession team by Friday, it’s hard not to like the Lightning’s chances.
As always, thanks for reading.
Ottawa Senators Blogger • 
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