The Montreal Canadiens have all but locked up first place in the Atlantic division by defeating the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 in overtime Saturday night at the Amalie Arena. With the victory the Canadiens extended their lead to eight points over not just the Ottawa Senators but the Toronto Maple Leafs as well as they each have 91 points. Now they just need one more win in their four remaining games to clinch the Atlantic. An impressive feat considering how despondent the team was in January and February before the arrival of Claude Julien behind the bench.
The game itself was an exciting battle between a desperate Lightning team trying to sneak into the playoffs and the Canadiens who came ready to play and prove that they are not going to sit back despite having earlier clinched their spot in the postseason. Both teams skated hard and traded numerous scoring chances with goaltenders Andrei Vasilevsky and Carey Price holding the fort, demonstrating that a game does not have to be high scoring in order to be entertaining.
The Lightning are likely the team in Eastern Conference that no one wants to sneak into the playoffs. Coming into the game against the Canadiens they were on a four game win streak as Nikita Kucherov, Victor Hedman and Vasilevsky were leading the team back into the playoff race. While earning one point against the Canadiens is better than nothing, the Lightning still lost ground to the Boston Bruins as the Bruins won and extended their lead for the final wild card spot to four points. The Canadiens will have an opportunity to be the spoiler once more for the mLightning as the rematch will take place on April 7th in Montreal when the playoff picture should be a little clearer.
Eastern Conference Playoff Race
— Damian Echevarrieta (@Ech28) April 2, 2017
(Games Ending 4/1) pic.twitter.com/38qLJdMwxf
Props:
Phillip Danault - He opened the scoring with a great individual effort, carrying the puck through the Lightning zone nearly untouched and then went to the net where he was able to take clear advantage of Hedman and Vasilevsky’s puck mismanagement. Danault now has four points in his last three games as he also earned an assist in overtime despite not being on the ice when the goal was scored as he had passed the puck to Max Pacioretty and went for a change, replaced by Alexander Radulov who would score the game winning goal. With 39 points on the season, few could have predicted that Danault had this type of offensive contribution in him. Then again, few could have predicted that he would be the Canadiens number one center by the end of the season…
Alexander Radulov - It may seem slightly odd that Radulov’s game winning goal was only his second of the season considering how important he is to the Canadiens success. His 52 points in 73 games is pretty much what was expected of him before the season began but most probably thought that he would have scored more goals rather than record more assists. He also has four points in his last three games and is clearly back to performing how fans had gotten accustomed to before he missed time with an injury on the Canadiens Western Canada road trip.
Max Pacioretty - The captain assisted in both Canadiens games to extend his point streak to four games that includes two goals and four assists. With 66 points on the season, Pacioretty is just one behind his career high of 67 from the 2014-2015 NHL season. It has been quite the season for him as he has grown by leaps and bounds as the captain of the Canadiens. He called himself out after not recording a point in six games and as per usual he responded the right way, leading the team on the ice. Pacioretty can certainly hold his head up high for his performances on and off the ice this season as he has demonstrated true leadership and the ability to grow as a player and person.
Nathan Beaulieu & Alexei Emelin - With Jordie Benn out of the lineup for the past two games, Julien decided to change up the bottom two defensive pairings as Brandon Davidson has played with Jeff Petry and Emelin switched to his off side to play with Beaulieu. The Canadiens two most inconsistent defensemen have surprisingly combined to play some very solid hockey together, demonstrating some surprising chemistry at both ends of the ice. With their strong play, Julien has been able to play nearly all of his defensemen evenly and conserve his veterans (Shea Weber and Andrei Markov) energy. Perhaps once Benn returns to the lineup he should play with Jeff Petry on the second pairing. Petry has not been the same player the second half of the season and Benn might just be the right player to stabilize him.
Alex Galchenyuk, Andrew Shaw & Artturi Lehkonen - While the trio were on the ice for both Florida Panthers goals last Thursday, they came back strong against the Lightning and spent quite a bit of time in their opponent’s zone, creating numerous scoring chances. While none of them hit the back of the net, it was an excellent bounce back night for them as the Canadiens will need contributions from up and down the lineup if they have hpe of playing well into Spring.
Dwight King, Michael McCarron & Andreas Martinsen - They had to be the biggest fourth line the Canadiens have dressed in quite some time. However, big no longer means slow as they used their wheels and size to forecheck hard. Yes, that was them that were on the ice with less than two minutes left in a tied game. Julien obviously had confidence in his fourth line and was not afraid to put them out in the dying minutes of the game. That kind of move does not go unnoticed by the players who will appreciate and remember that...
The Canadiens will visit the Florida Panthers Monday night before finishing their road trip against the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday.