Pressure. It’s a curious thing. The Montreal Canadiens would probably tell you that that they don’t feel any. They are still the underdogs going into Game 6, simply doing their best to survive to play another day. Most of them probably believe it as well. Without the burden of pressure, the players are able to hold their sticks just a little looser and play in the moment. They realize how fortunate they are to still be playing hockey while so many others are hitting the links. The Canadiens seem to thrive in these situations. Tell them they can’t do something and they will find a way to do it. On the flip side, the Tampa Bay Lightning would tell you that they are still up 3-2 in the series, playing a game at home where they enjoyed the best home record during the regular season and are only 1 win away from moving on. They could point to the Canadiens own experience in the first round of the playoffs against Ottawa. How the Canadiens let the Senators back into the series but found a way to close it out in Game 6. The Lightning know that they haven’t played their best hockey against the Canadiens and are confident that if they do that, then they will finish off the Habs sooner rather than later. Today after practice Michel Therrien alluded exactly to this:
"They have more pressure. We've been there. We had a three game lead and you have pressure to close. The 4th one is the toughest."-Therrien
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) May 11, 2015#TBLightning: Jon Cooper au sujet du défi d'affronter Carey Price: "We've had success against Carey. ... He, to us, is not a mental block."
— J-F Chaumont (@JFChaumontJDM) May 10, 2015