Habs fans had not seen a game in the Bell Centre with a chance to win a playoff series since 2015, more than 11 years ago, and the excitement levels were high inside the rink, outside and in practically the entire city. Would Martin St-Louis and the young Canadiens be able to hold off the veteran Tampa squad and claim a ticket to the second round of the NHL playoffs?
Alas, that answer turned out to be a “no”, at least for now. It took more than 69 minutes for anyone to score a goal, and this time it was Tampa Bay’s turn to win an overtime game–the teams have alternated victories overall, and also OT victories. Both Jakub Dobes and Andrei Vasilevskiy played spectacular games, but, in the end, only one goaltender can record a shutout. 33 shots and 32 saves for Dobes, an outstanding performance on any night, but this time the bleu blanc et rouge were unable to put any behind Vasilevskiy.
Habs (highly theoretical) Starting Lines
Caufield – Suzuki – Anderson
Slafkovsky – Evans – Demidov
Bolduc – Dach – Texier
Newhook – Danault – Gallagher
Matheson – Carrier
Guhle – Hutson
Struble – Xhekaj
Dobes
Fowler
Ten Thoughts
1) Habs’ goaltender adventures behind the net, episode 5: Jakub Dobes was nearly burned two and a half minutes into the game when he went behind the net to clear a puck. He tried to send it past Nikita Kucherov but was unable to, allowing the Russian veteran to spin around and shoot at the open net. Dobes scrambled back around the opposite side and was lucky not to knock the puck–which was going straight across–into the net with his pads. A little bit of discretion behind the net would be good to balance the aggression in clearing those pucks.
2) There was no question of exhaustion or tentative play, both teams clearly came to the game to win, not just to avoid losing. While the Habs had their chances, halfway through the first period, the shot clock showed a 7-3 advantage for the Lightning, and the xG data wasn’t much prettier. However, as the period wore on, Montreal started to come around.
3) Dominique Ducharme was well known for hitting the forward line blender between games, but his successor, Martin St-Louis, has largely believed in stability and in growing chemistry among linemates. However, by Game Five, St-Louis had located Ducharme’s blender and hauled it behind the bench to counter Jon Cooper’s aggressive line-matching. St-Louis had his finger on the blender’s start button again tonight, and the first period alone saw ten different Habs forward lines complete at least a shift.
4) Phillip Danault earned his pizza again tonight, this time for outstanding defensive work. Five minutes into the second period, with the Lightning players buzzing around his left goalpost, Dobes slid to the left, his pads in a butterfly to block any low shots. However, J.J. Moser was able to slide a puck through his five-hole–only to encounter the stick of Danault, who was standing to the right of Dobes, covering the open side of the net. Danault stopped the puck just short of the goal line and cleared it, saving a surefire Tampa goal.
5) Alexandre Texier was called for a high stick on Moser about a minute later, giving the power play opportunity to Tampa this time. The Lightning looked good early on the man advantage, and a broken Jake Evans stick gave them a further edge. However, Gage Goncalves resolved that rapidly, sending an errant pass out of the zone seconds after that. Evans paid back the favour with a three-on-two short-handed break between Alex Newhook and Alexandre Carrier. In the end, the only two scoring chances on that penalty were short-handed ones by the Canadiens.
6) The Habs finally managed to get an effective power play working on their second opportunity after Charle-Edouard D’Astous–returning from a likely concussion he suffered in the series opener–was sent off for two minutes for slashing Danault as the veteran forward rushed into the Tampa zone. On the power play, the Habs had their usual top unit out for nearly the entire time, but this time they were able to use movement and quick passing more effectively, opening some seams and shooting lanes. Most remarkable was the Ivan Demidov one-timer from the right side, blocked by a diving Andrei Vasilevskiy. Demidov quickly shot the rebound toward the top corner of the net, but somehow the sprawling Vasilevskiy got his trapper high enough in the air to snatch that second shot as well and keep the game scoreless.
7) The top line, now Anderson-Suzuki-Caufield, looked probably the most dangerous it has been in the entire series so far. It showed again with heavy pressure in the Tampa zone five minutes into the third frame, repeatedly throwing pucks at Vasilevskiy. However, all fun has to end sometime, and this one ended after about a minute when Jake Guentzel stole the puck, breaking free with only Kaiden Guhle tracking him. Dobes made the save on Guentzel but only after a slash by Guhle. Tampa, too, had an effective power play, with six shot attempts, although three of them were wide and two more bounced off the goalposts. A huge collective sigh of relief could be heard from the Bell Centre fans as the power play expired.
8) Moser and Jayden Struble earned coincidental roughing penalties midway through the third period in the only scrum of substance in this game. However, both teams played the ensuing four-on-four segment cautiously, not taking excessive risks and potentially giving up an odd-man break to the opposition.
9) Ivan Demidov was sent off for goaltender interference with little over three minutes remaining in the third, after his breakaway ended up in Vasilevskiy’s net. There was no question that he interfered with the goaltender as he slid through the blue ice, but a contributing factor surely was a hook by Anthony Cirelli. Coincidental minors, one thinks, but the referees only called one on Demidov, giving the advantage to Tampa Bay. That power play was the most intense display of attack the Lightning generated on the night, with 12 shot attempts, four of them on the net (and saved by Dobes). The applause from the crowd at the end of the penalty kill was well-earned by both Dobes and the defenders.
10) The overtime period was more of the same: Habs pressure, Lightning pressure, rinse and repeat. The visitors finally claimed the victory nine minutes into the extra period, with Goncalves in front of the net, covered by Guhle. Dominic James sent a pass from the left side to the front of the net, and Guhle turned to attempt to cut off the pass. That, however, freed Goncalves, who took a shot into Dobes’s right pad, and the Tampa forward then flipped the rolling rebound into the net beyond the reach of the goaltender’s pad. A 1-0 Tampa victory, and off we go to Tampa for a seventh and final game in the series, one that will begin at 6 PM ET.
HW Habs Three Stars
First Star: Jakub Dobes (33 shots, 32 saves, .970 save percentage, +2.5 GSAx) was outstanding all night–well, almost, apart from his early-game adventure behind the net. His positioning was excellent, and his movement quick. With the defenders taking away most of the shots, Dobes was able to effectively cover the angles and keep his net empty for 69 minutes and two seconds, giving his teammates plenty of time to score some goals.
Second Star: Lane Hutson (0g, 0a, 2 shots, +0, 30:44 TOI) was everywhere. All the time. It was another stonking game from the undersized defenceman, who many analysts thought was too small and fragile to survive in the NHL playoffs. None of the pucks made it on the night, but he repeatedly created scoring opportunities.
Third Star: Jake Evans (0g, 0a, 2 shots, +0, 6 hits, 16:08 TOI) played an outstanding game, together with his linemates Juraj Slafkovsky and Ivan Demidov. Evans gets the pick here, given his excellent work on the penalty kill in addition to the threats his line was able to generate.