The Tampa Bay Lightning have had two chances to eliminate the Montreal Canadiens from Stanley Cup contention. Unfortunately, with Saturday’s loss, they have now wasted two chances, too. The Bolts dropped a 2-1 decision in Game Five of their Eastern Conference Semifinal series, and so the matchup will move back to Tampa for Game Six on Tuesday.
While the end result obviously taints any positives that can be drawn from the game, it’s worth noting that contest wasn’t all bad for the Lightning. In fact, their start was actually quite good. After looking listless in the third and fourth games, Tampa Bay came out flying in Game Five. They were able to match the Canadiens in terms of intensity and attack, and just looked generally better than they had in a long time.
Regrettably, that hard work all went for naught. Montreal opened the scoring at 9:01 of the first period, which really took the wind out of the Lightning’s sails. The goal came off the stick of Devante Smith-Pelly, who simply wristed a long-range shot past a stunned Ben Bishop. It was another bad goal for the Tampa tender to give up, and it proved to be a devastating one. His team’s play following the untimely goal just lacked the spirit that had defined their first nine minutes.
And it just went downhill from there.
When the second period started, so did the ol’ broken record. The Lightning struggled to possess the puck, they struggled to create second chances, and they struggled to get through the neutral zone. Have you heard any of that before? Of course you have. It’s the same story that plagued the team for parts of Game One, 59:59 of Game Three, and all of Game Four. Where’s the adjustment? Your guess is as good as mine.
If there was one positive in that second period, it was that the team didn’t fall any further behind. They bent, but they didn’t break. Montreal had numerous grade-A opportunities, including a number on the power play. They hit the post more than once, but couldn’t get the puck across the goal line.
The Lightning’s ability to hold down the fort paid dividends for them in the third period, as they were finally able to break through Carey Price’s force field. After a scramble in front of the net, Steven Stamkos scored his second goal of the playoffs by batting a puck past the Montreal goaltender. Just like that, the game was tied. The Bolts had some life.
It wasn’t enough.
P.A. Parenteau broke the tie, and gave Montreal the 2-1 lead they wouldn’t relinquish, when he popped a high shot past Bishop. The Bolts got caught chasing, and the Canadiens made them pay. It’s interesting to note that, for the second time in the evening, a 6’7… goaltender was beaten cleanly by a shot over the shoulder. Bishop didn’t make the saves his team needed him to make. Price, on the other hand, did make the saves he needed to make, including an absolutely robbery on Valtteri Filppula late in the third. That save was arguably the difference in the game.
The seconds ticked away following Parenteau’s goal, and Tampa simply ran out of time. When the final buzzer rang, the crowd at the Bell Centre went absolutely wild. This series is going back to Tampa for Game Six with the Lightning reeling in a fairly significant way.
At this point, I think it’s fairly safe to say that the seeds of doubt have been planted. If there’s a goaltender that can steal two games in a row, even if his team isn’t perfect, it’s Carey Price. The Bolts have wasted one opportunity on home ice already; to throw away another one could prove to be catastrophic. Once again, if they want to move on to the third round, they’ll have to be a lot better than they were in this game. I feel like I’ve been saying that a lot lately. All this blogger knows is that a 4-1 series lead is a lot more comfortable than a 3-2 series lead.
As always, thanks for reading.
Michael Stuart has been the Tampa Bay Lightning writer for HockeyBuzz since 2012. Visit his archive to read more or follow him on Twitter.