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The Montreal Canadiens survived their Game 7 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning with fewer than ten shots on net, a story of the game that described the grit and fortitude with which Montreal’s young core played. Noah Dobson’s return stabilized more of the defensive scheme, and only when shooting was it clear he was injured. They withstood an onslaught of offence from the Lightning’s best, managing the storm and striking on their few opportunities, and getting the luck that characterizes the Montreal magic of this season.

Jakub Dobes and Nick Suzuki made incredible impacts during the game tonight, and Montreal’s depth kept them off the wrong side of the scoresheet. Dobes stood on his head and kept it locked onto the task at hand, while giving as good as he got in the chirping game. His players had his back as everyone stood their ground against a veteran group of champions.

What does this loss mean for the Tampa Bay Lightning? They fell short in their fourth first round series in a row, and Jon Cooper is likely to finally win his first Coach of the Year award. Where do they go from here after a great year but losing to your direct divisional competition, a club intending to dominate the division for the next decade? Questions surely abound in Florida about next steps. For Montreal? Their next steps involve a much shorter travel time and, likely, another lively series of bombastic behaviors and extreme talent.

Starting* Lines

Caufield – Suzuki – Slafkovsky**
Gallagher – Newhook – Demidov
Bolduc – Dach – Texier
Evans – Danault – Anderson

Matheson – Carrier
Guhle – Hutson
Struble – Dobson

Jakub Dobes

*Warmup skate lines
**Slafkovsky opened the game alongside Evans and Demidov

Assorted Lines seen during Gametime

Slafkovsky – Danault – Newhook
Demidov – Suzuki – Caufield
Anderson – Danault – Newhook
Slafkovsky – Evans – Newhook
Slafkovsky – Suzuki – Demidov
Anderson – Danault – Caufield
Evans – Newhook – Texier
Demidov – Suzuki – Newhook

Ten Thoughts

1. The young Canadiens gave the Lightning the first high-danger chance of the game and needed Dobes’ left pad to flare out and stop a slot shot from Gage Goncalves, the Game 6 overtime hero. Soft ice in the middle of their own zone has been a recurring issue for the Habs against the Lightning, and the return of Noah Dobson is surely in part to help that deficiency. The defender fired his first shot on net near the ten-minute mark during a flurry of Canadiens chances that involved two shots hitting the post by Juraj Slafkovsky and Mike Matheson. Slafkovsky was stopped again moments later as Andrei Vasilevskiy stuck out his right pad to close off the bottom corner.

2. Dobes earned his first five saves of the game during the first minutes of the latter half of the third period as Kirby Dach’s line was hemmed in their own end. His central positioning and goaltending instincts were all that seemingly kept the game even since two shots bounced off him without any apparent knowledge on his part. When Jayden Struble got turned inside out by Goncalves in front of Dobes, he stayed with the forward through his move across the crease and closed the door convincingly. Montreal gave up two two-on-ones during the back end of the period, but strong defensive backchecks by Matheson and Lane Hutson erased the passing option and Dobes stood tall on shots that beat him cleanly during Game 5.

3. Montreal earned a glorious chance for themselves as the first period came to a close, Alexandre Carrier’s wrist shot coming from a pass by Alex Newhook. Montreal’s strategy for entry to the Lightning zone thus far had taken the form of dump-and-chase hockey, and they hadn’t yet achieved any momentum off the rush. Slafkovsky’s line ground out the chance for Carrier, and then the top line finally closed. Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki pursued a dump-in of their own from earlier in their shift and tried to break the puck free from behind Vasilevskiy. Caufield successfully shoveled the puck out of the scrum and behind the net to Vasilevskiy’s left, where Josh Anderson beat his coverage and forwarded the puck to Kaiden Guhle at the point. Suzuki had curled out of the morass of bodies and into the slot, where he was able to get a stick on Guhle’s shot from the point that came immediately after the puck reached him. The puck clattered off J.J Moser’s shin pad and past Vasilevskiy to open the scoring and put Montreal ahead as the first period came to a close. Tampa Bay’s depth continued to penetrate the coverage of the top line as they opened the second period with a sequence of chances. Dobes kept his cool deep in his crease to stop another open slot shot by Oliver Bjorkstrand, then had to hug his left post during a wraparound chance. Matheson took the game’s first penalty when he “interfered” with Anthony Cirelli off a faceoff to Dobes’ right. Cirelli tried to make his way to the front of the net but got tangled up with Matheson and another Habs forward, tripping over the pair.

4. The penalty kill was as passive as the others of the series so far for Montreal, and thus gave up the first shot easily across the seam to Darren Raddysh from Nikita Kucherov. Dobes pushed off and over to stop the wired puck, and Montreal forced a quick clear on the next faceoff. The Lightning once gained the zone easily once more, and their passing led to a good look from Hagel that Dobes gloved down. With just under a minute to go in the penalty, Montreal cleared the puck after again winning the faceoff and then forced a delayed offside before Newhook drew a penalty of his own. Jake Evans cut off the forward push from Tampa along the boards and offloaded the puck to Newhook, who burst around his defender (Brayden Point) and was hauled down to the ice as he tried to cut to the front of the net. Montreal’s ensuing power play was completely disjointed and barely completed any passes, achieving no shots and even less energy for the visitors.

5. This game flow was reflected in the shot total by the halfway mark of the middle frame, with Tampa sitting at 18 and Montreal wearing their four shots in their play. Montreal was passive in their own zone above the circles and began to give up chance after chance to trailing forwards and activating defensemen; they struggled to spin off their coverage fast enough to perceive the incoming pick to relieve their pressure on Tampa’s defenders. Thankfully, Montreal’s own defenders were comporting themselves well while clearing the front of the net, but also demonstrated weaknesses along the wall closing off forechecks and zone entries.

6. In due course, Montreal took a penalty that underscored the flow of the game during the second period so far. Guhle was called for holding Jake Guentzel at the Lightning blue line as Montreal fought to keep the puck out of their own zone. The Lightning’s second unit came up with a goal for the home team and got them chanting for the first time of the evening off the stick of Dominic James. James was situated alongside the net to Dobes’ left when an uncontested point shot came from Charle-Edouard D’Astous. Matheson served as an excellent screen for Dobes and also did nothing to tie up James’ stick on the shot, nor was he physically close enough to James to box him out of the lane entirely. In fact, the shot passed through a yard of space between the two skaters and was deflected just a few inches over Dobes’ glove.

7. The Lightning continued their pace and pressure following the evening of the score, but were caught with too many men on the ice on the forecheck with approximately four and a half minutes to go in the second. Montreal’s power play had the puck tied up and cleared early, and they then continued to struggle to establish themselves. Hutson, Suzuki, and Caufield were easily pushed to the perimeter along the right boards by the two penalty killers and were barely able to complete passes to each other before a bobbled puck led to a loss of possession and a clear, and another Canadiens advantage concluded without any meaningful attack. Montreal couldn’t even bring themselves to send pucks towards the net aside from a Suzuki shot that went five feet wide of the net and a Hutson sling from the point that flew even further wide. The second period expired without Montreal earning a logged shot on goal – the first time in their illustrious history – and a total of four in the game so far.

8. New lines opened up the period for the Montreal Canadiens as they hit the ice to answer for their dismal second period. Dobes was again called on for the period’s first shot when Goncalves was left alone in the slot as the Lightning forecheck continued to punish the hesitation and lack of options for Montreal’s forwards in their own zone. Suzuki earned Montreal’s first shot on goal more than five minutes into the third period since his goal in the first, to the cheers of Montreal’s own in the Bell Centre. Shortly after, Dobes stopped Brandon Hagel as he came in one-on-one with Dobson and then Hagel was seen delivering a hammer fist to Dobson’s custom glove on his broken thumb.

9. As the tension continued to build within Benchmark International Arena, both teams pushed for the conclusive next goal that would put the other team on their heels for the rest of the game. Montreal began defending more cohesively and exiting their zone, and through these efforts, they began to gain positive possessions with less time spent in their zone over successive shifts. These improvements culminated in Montreal’s 8th “shot” from Hutson that was blockered by Vasilevskiy into the glass. The puck bounced on the ground and just behind the right post, where Newhook had just arrived and batted it out of the air. The puck deflected off Vasilevskiy’s pad and behind him into the net, putting Montreal ahead with just under nine minutes remaining in the game.

Tick, tick, tick.

10. With each clear from the Canadiens, time continued to ebb away from a progressively more desperate Lightning team that had dominated play through the first 50 minutes of the contest. Matheson made a daring dash to clear the zone and escape Kucherov. Slafkovsky and Suzuki had a two- on-one burst where Slafkovsky’s stick snapped in half on the shot, Evans desperately earned a clear for Montreal with a diving play at the blueline, and a batted puck by Guhle was headed for a clear icing but fortuitously hit Slafkovsky’s broken blade before reaching the line, negating the icing and killing another 20 seconds. Jon Cooper pulled the goaltender with 2:12 remaining; Danault, Evans, Suzuki, Matheson, and Carrier on the ice to try to close out the final seconds. Montreal held the blue line admirably through the dwindling moments, and Slafkovsky was given numerous opportunities to fire a shot with velocity into the empty net. He even carried the puck to within inches of the net and was blocked by a sliding Hagel when he tried to calmly tuck the puck around Hagel’s stick. As the Lightning tried to gain the zone after an offside call with 17 seconds left, Matheson fired a clear over the boards cleanly and took a penalty, putting the faceoff yards from Dobes. Nick Suzuki had the block that sealed the game, and a final clear ran the clock all the way out as Montreal won in regulation for the second time in the series and with the fewest amount of shots in a win in National Hockey League Postseason history.

HabsWorld Habs 3 Stars

1st Star – Jakub Dobes

In addition to his defensemen, the Montreal defensive players were on display throughout the game on Sunday night. Jakub Dobes was front and centre as a rookie goaltender and matched Vasilevskiy save for save for the second game in a row. He was positionally exquisite and kept his cool as he left the net to handle the puck again and again in the face of the Lightning forecheck. He could have over-slid on Goncalves’ slot chance, he could have not squeezed his arm closed on Hagel and Kucherov, he could have not heard his defencemen who gave him perfect calls behind the net all night to give outlet passes to. After playing with his emotions on display throughout the season, Dobes delivered a showcase in rational and reliable goaltending, enabling his team in confidence and – most importantly – wins.

Stats: 28 SV, 1 GA, .966 SV%

2nd Star – Nick Suzuki

The captain showed up for his team by getting the opening goal and, in his words, settling the team down for the rest of the game. Despite how “settled” they actually were, the distinct lack of offence over the course of the match clearly distinguished the necessity of his goal. He made the play to put himself in position to tip the puck, and he could have easily avoided the tough ice instead. He made the block at the end of the game on the final shot from Tampa Bay, and made sure to finish every play with a hit this game. Leading from the front, Montreal’s captain delivered his team to the second round with as much fidelity as any other skater behind him.

Stats: 1 goal, +2 rating, 3 shots, 3 blocks, 3 hits, 22:48 T.O.I.

3rd Star – Alex Newhook

It would be impossible not to include Newhook as a star of the game since his effort and hand-eye coordination facilitated the series-winning goal. He was energized throughout the game, splitting defenders and chasing down loose pucks behind the net. He delivered passes into the slot to no avail, but his energy kept his line and a modicum of momentum for the Habs when he was on the ice. Newhook’s goal sent the Canadiens to the second round, and he surely has more to prove as they hope to progress in the playoffs.

Stats: 1 goal, +1 rating, 1 shot, 1 block, 1 hit, 16:09 T.O.I.