For the first time in 28 years, the Habs participated in a Stanley Cup Final game on Monday night in Tampa Bay. Unfortunately, they didn’t put up much of a fight in the opener as they fell 5-1.

A day after missing practice and being placed into COVID-19 protocol, Habs winger Joel Armia has received the green light to rejoin the team.  He is on a flight to Tampa Bay and has not been ruled out for Monday’s series opener.

Our latest podcast is now available. We take a look at the upcoming Montreal-Tampa Bay Stanley Cup Final, recap the Montreal-Vegas semifinal, plus a discussion on other news and notes around the NHL, including several former members of the Canadiens.

The Stanley Cup Final starts Monday evening and the resilient Montreal Canadiens have advanced to the last round of the playoffs. The HabsWorld writers provide their predictions on what’s expected to be an exciting series to determine who will lift Lord Stanley’s cup and celebrate.

There were definitely some tense moments along the way but the Habs picked up two of three wins for the second straight week, earning them the Clarence Campbell Bowl for the first (and barring another year like this, only) time as they advanced to the Stanley Cup Final to take on Tampa Bay.

The Habs have made it to the Stanley Cup Final after an impressive series victory over Vegas.  In honour of them winning in six games, here are six thoughts on the playoffs so far plus the final round that lies ahead.

The Habs weren’t able to hold onto a pair of one-goal leads on Thursday night but it didn’t matter as Artturi Lehkonen scored early in overtime to give Montreal the 3-2 victory, win the Clarence Campbell Bowl, and send them to the Stanley Cup Final.

The Habs leaned on a defensive structure that has been frustrating their opponents all postseason to frustrate the Golden Knights on Tuesday night which helped them secure a 4-1 victory to take a 3-2 series lead.

The Habs took care of another pending free agent on Wednesday, this time in the front office as the team announced that John Sedgwick has signed a three-year contract extension.

The Habs put forth a much more complete effort in Game 4 on Sunday night. However, it wasn’t enough as Vegas turned the tables with a 2-1 overtime victory, squaring up the series at two games apiece.