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The Tampa Bay Lightning saved their best for last, and with it they defeated the Montreal Canadiens by a score of 4-1 in Game Six of their Eastern Conference Semifinal series.
The victory punches Tampa’s ticket to the Eastern Conference Final, where they’ll take on either the Washington Capitals or New York Rangers.
After struggling so mightily for so much of the series, the Bolts came out looking like their regular-season selves on Tuesday night. This time around, it was the Canadiens who struggled to get through the neutral zone, it was the Canadiens who struggled to create opportunities, and it was the Canadiens who struggled to score. It was a very solid performance from the home team, and one they desperately needed.
Before the Lightning lead was comfortably established, however, the atmosphere at Amalie Arena was tense. Fans in attendance had just seen their team drop two straight games, and there was serious concern about how the group was playing heading into the pivotal sixth contest. Those questions and concerns were quickly put to rest, though, as the Lightning came out looking like a different team.
That hard work manifested itself in two ways early on in the hockey game. First of all, the Bolts did a great job of suppressing Montreal’s offense without sacrificing their own. The Canadiens were only able to generate six (!) shots on goal in the first period, while Tampa Bay fired 13 at Carey Price.
Additionally, the second manifestation came in the form of a power play goal to open the scoring. Nikita Kucherov tipped a beautiful Ondrej Palat feed past Price at 15:35 to put the Bolts up 1-0, and from there they never looked back. Their solid play in the first period turned into fantastic play in the second period; it was in that middle frame that the game was really put out of reach for Michel Therrien’s Canadiens.
The second period clinic started with Steven Stamkos’s third goal of the playoffs, assisted by Alex Killorn and Matt Carle. The goal, scored at 5:35 of the middle frame, came as the captain sped into the slot and rifled a shot past a stunned Price. It was a vintage Stamkos goal, and one that really got the fans in attendance excited.
Of course, commentators often remark that the two-goal lead is the worst lead in hockey. As such, it was supremely important for Tampa to score the next goal.
They did.
With Devante Smith-Pelly in the box for holding, Ondrej Palat scored a picture-perfect goal with help from Nikita Kucherov and Anton Stralman to extend the lead to 3-0. Just like that, with only a minute left in the second period, the game was out of reach for Montreal. The sense that this Tampa squad was likely on its way to the Eastern Conference Final was palpable among Lightning fans. The smell of victory was certainly in the air.
Securely sitting with a 3-0 lead to start the third, the Bolts didn’t just fall back into a trap and attempt to kill off the clock. Instead, Tampa kept pressing. They killed off an early penalty, and were generally solid thereafter. Montreal still had no answer for Tampa’s neutral zone play, and the Lightning generated a significant chunk of time in the offensive end.
Montreal did get one goal back, to break Ben Bishop’s shutout bid, when Max Pacioretty scored his fifth of the playoffs with just less than five minutes remaining in the game. Fed cross-crease by Brendan Gallagher, Pacioretty just tapped the puck past a helpless Bishop. That made it 3-1.
It was too little, too late for the Montreal Canadiens. They were forced to pull Price for the extra attacker, and from there Nikita Kucherov went to work against the empty net. He scored his second of the night and sixth of the playoffs to make it 4-1. Game. Set. Match.
The seconds ticked away, and finally the final buzzer rang with the Bolts up by that 4-1 margin. Fans at Amalie went wild, and this blogger yelled uncontrollably from his couch. Faced with a big dose of adversity, this group responded with its best game of the series. Ryan Callahan was out, and his teammates stepped up. There were questions about Ben Bishop, and he responded by making 18 saves on 19 shots. Jon Cooper's game plan worked to a tee, while Therrien's fell apart at the seams. Everything went right for Tampa Bay, and everything went wrong for the Canadiens. Revenge, as mentioned at the start of the series, is a dish best served on the ice.
What’s the end result of all this? The Tampa Bay Lightning are on their way to the Eastern Conference Final for the first time since 2011 thanks to a masterful Game Six performance. There was not a single passenger in this one. Everyone, from Ben Bishop, to Jonathan Marchessault, to Steven Stamkos, was on point. When they needed their biggest and best game of the playoffs, they got it. If nothing else, that has to give the team and the fans a big dose of confidence moving into the third round.
Enjoy the night, Bolts Nation. Moments like this don’t come around all that often!
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.