Things weren’t looking great for the Lightning heading into tonight’s game in Montreal. They lost three players following Saturday’s loss in Detroit. Call ups were made and Jon Cooper put lines together with fishing line and masking tape before one of the biggest games of the season. After the horn the Lightning had secured a 5-3 victory, swept the season series with the Habs and set a new franchise record of 47 wins in a season.
The first period at the Bell Centre was predominantly Lightning from puck drop. The game remained scoreless after the first 20 minutes but Tampa Bay managed to outshoot the Canadiens 13-7. Carey Price continued his MVP caliber season and remained solid between the pipes. Montreal was shorthanded three times in the first period but the Lightning’s power play woes continued. The Bolts registered three shots with the man advantage, including 22 seconds of 5-on-3 play. While they didn’t manage to get one past Price they were employing a shoot first mentality.
Tampa erupted in the second. Ben Bishop took advantage of a Montreal line change and sent a long pass up to Steven Stamkos. Stamkos got the puck to Vladislav Namestnikov who put the puck past Price with a snapshot at 1:24. Yup, a goalie assist. The celebration was short lived as the Lightning’s power play woes saw Max Pacioretty score a shorthanded goal three minutes later.
Lightning players with connections to Quebec always play well against the Canadiens and Jonathan Drouin was no exception. He put the Lightning ahead 2-1 with a wrist shot on the power play. His approach prompted analyst Bobby “The Chief” Taylor to say “Drouin made more moves than a Swiss watch”. It was Drouin’s third goal of the season and just his first since December 5, 2014. The assists came from Anton Stralman and… Ben Bishop. The netminder became the first goalie with two assists in a period since the Blackhawks’ Nikolai Khabibulin did it against the Lightning on November 28th 2011.
The Bolts weren’t done yet. Palat picked up a turnover and transitioned the puck to Namestnikov. Vladdy fed the puck to Nikita Kucherov who made it 3-1 on a beautiful slapshot.
It was all Tampa Bay through the first forty minutes. Momentum shifted a bit 23 seconds into the third when Jeff Petry‘s wrist shot beat Bishop. Namestnikov scored his second goal of the night with his own wrist shot to make it 4-2. P.K. Subban made the Bolts pay with a power play goal of his own at 16:10. The Lightning weathered the storm and Stralman put the game away with an empty netter at 19:03. Unfortunately Victor Hedman only took one shift in the third before heading to the locker room. Coach Cooper had no update on Hedman, except to say he is “questionable” tomorrow night.
With the victory the Lightning clinched their berth in the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs. They sweep the season series with Montreal. They set a new franchise record with 47 wins in a season.
It was an absolutely incredible effort, despite being without some key players.
Tyler Johnson (upper body), Braydon Coburn (lower body, Jason Garrison (upper body), Andrej Sustr (upper body) and Jonathan Marchessault (healthy) were the scratches.
With the return of Paquette, Jonathan Marchessault was returned to Syracuse.
The Lightning will visit the Toronto Maple Leafs tomorrow night.
(Feature Photograph/Getty Images)
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