Montreal Canadiens Get Angry and Get the Win Against the Tampa Bay Lightning

Fuck you.

That’s what the Montreal Canadiens said to the Tampa Bay Lightning tonight.

Fuck you for being up 3-0 in this 2nd round playoff series despite having been largely outplayed.

Fuck you to all the goal posts they hit.

Fuck you to last second goals and soul crushing defeats. And fuck you to being down 3-0.

From the drop of the puck tonight, the Habs looked determined, ready, and, quite frankly, pissed off.

Max Pacioretty scored in his typical style.

Andrei Markov and PK Subban were as ferocious as an egg-fart vapor-trail.

Brendan Gallagher continued to show he’s a playoff gamer, and Carey Price, for once, got some goal support.

Carey Price must be looking at the scoreboard and wondering what that squiggly line is under Montreal... It's a 2, Carey, a 2. #Mtlhockey

— corey collard (@coreycollard24) May 7, 2015

Also, Montreal finally showed that Tampa goalie, Ben Bishop, is actually mortal.

Wait, what?

Of course he is!

One just has to reference the Lightning's first round series against the Red Wings, to see Detroit getting Bishop off his focus.

Bishop is a great goaltender.  But unlikely Price, he can be rattled. And the Habs did so tonight, getting to him early and often.

As a result, we saw Bishop flopping around on the ice, losing his stick, diving to try and get calls, and overall looking like a goaltender who is inferior to Price...

...which he is.

But most importantly for Montreal, their leaders lead.

From PK Subban, to Markov, to Pacioretty and more, the Canadiens, to a man, were determined not to be swept.

So golf clap for winning a game where the opposition was lacksidasical and comfortable with their three-game lead.

But now what?

Well, Montreal is still down 3-1 in the series, but they have reasons to be optimistic.

Game 2 aside, they’ve largely outplayed Tampa in this series. But more importantly, they’ve got momentum going back home to the Bell Centre.

For my money, there is no way the Habs lose Game 5 in Montreal.  No way.  Not with the pride and leadership in this group.

Equally, I don’t see any way the Habs lose a potential Game 7 in Montreal, if that game happens.

Not to jump ahead too much, but for me, it all comes down to a Game 6 in Tampa.  If the Habs can win Game 5—and I don’t see how they lose that game—they will be playing their most important and, difficult, game of the year Game 6 in Tampa.

But this is all conjecture...

The reality right now, is that the Habs are down three games to one, with history dictating that there’s no way they can come back to win.

As we saw with the Canadiens’ first round matchup against the Ottawa Senators, winning one or two games may put the fear of God into the opposition, but it doesn’t win the series.

I know it’s a cliché, but the Habs really have to take it one shift and one game at a time.  What do they need to do to win the next game?  That’s precisely what's got to be the focus...nothing more.

It’s like that age old adage...how do you eat an elephant?

One bite at a time.

What's your take on the series?  Do that Habs have a chance?  What do they need to do to win?

SIDENOTE: Yes, I realize it's been the better part of two years since I've written anything, anywhere, about hockey.  I have to thank the great writers who have kept the ball rolling in my absence. I'm not sure how often I'll start blogging again. It won't be the 100s of posts I was doing per year in the past, and it might be in a slightly different voice, but I'll definitely be contributing my thoughts on the Habs again...in some capacity!

(photo by Canadian Press)

---
Kamal is a smart ass who thinks he knows a lot about hockey.  He's been on-air, started businesses, and has embraced social media, all with a focus on hockey.  He recently flew to Spain.  Have you been to Spain?

Follow him on twitter @KamalPanesar...or don't.

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Playoff Preview: Canadiens at Lightning (Round 1, Game 1)

 
Match Up:

The Canadiens are in Tampa Bay Wednesday night to take on the Lightning in the first game of Round One of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Game starts at 7:00 and airs on RDS and CBC.

The Habs and Bolts faced off 4 times during the regular season. The first 3 meetings went beyond regulation and the Lightning led the fourth game by just one goal until a late empty-netter put that match away for good. In the end, the Canadiens managed just a single win against the Lightning during the regular season, a 2-1 shootout victory in Tampa.

What to Watch:

The Canadiens will depend on Carey Price to keep up his stellar play in the post-season. Price, team MVP for a fourth consecutive year, finished the season with a career best .927 save percentage and 2.32 goals against average, boosted by a 41-save shutout to end the season.

The Habs will also look to leading scorer Max Pacioretty to keep up his production. The sniper fell short of the 40-goal mark this season, but with 39 goals, Pacioretty finished fourth in the league in that department.

The Lightning will start the playoffs without their starting goalie. Ben Bishop is out with an elbow injury, meaning the Bolts will need to rely on backup, Anders Lindback to get the job done. The good news for Tampa is that Lindback was named the NHL's First Star in the last week of the season, he posted a 3-0-0 record, a 0.67 goals against average and a .975 save percentage.

What's at Stake:

The Lightning edged out the Canadiens by just 1 point to earn home ice advantage in the first round, but the Canadiens can swing the advantage back with a win on the road. During last year's playoffs, the teams that won Game 1 in the opening round won just 5 of the 8 series', but beyond the first round, every team that won the series opener went on to take their series.

Who's Out:

The Habs will be without Alex Galchenyuk (knee) for the first round, Brandon Prust (upper body) is day-to-day, as is Travis Moen (concussion).

Ben Bishop (elbow) won't be playing Wednesday, there's no word yet when he may be ready to return. Ondrej Palat (upper body) and Valtteri Filppula (lower body) are day-to-day.

What Else:

This is just the second time the Habs and Lightning are meeting in the postseason, their first meeting came in the second round of the 2004 playoffs while the Lightning were en route to the franchise's first and only Stanley Cup win. The Canadiens have yet to beat the Lightning in a playoff game, they were swept the first time around and managed just 4 goals in four games.

The Question Mark:

We want to hear from you, what are the Habs' keys to victory in order to eliminate the Lightning?

Let us know what you think, leave us a comment or send us a tweet with the #MTLHockey hashtag on Twitter.

Be sure to tune into the Montreal Hockey Talk Pregame Show an hour before the puck drop and the Post Game Show 5 minutes after the final siren. Join the live conversation by using the #MTLHockey hashtag on Twitter.

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Habs/Lightning Post-Game November 12th 2013

The Canadiens fell to the Stamkos-less Lightning on Tuesday night in a shootout as the Canadiens have only been on a skit recently only having won 1 game in their last 7.

With their missing star in Steven Stamkos it should have been a game the Canadiens have won on paper. In Tampa Bay, John Cooper has done as good a turn around for the Lightning as Patrick Roy has done for the Avalanche this season.

It was a low-scoring game and it seemed as though the Lightning should have been credited with a goal but the review showed that there had been incidental contact on Carey Price and that negated the goal for the Bolts.

Daniel Briere made a return to the ice after missing 10 games due to a concussion. He scored a goal in his return and seemed to find his stride in the later parts of the game.

It was very disappointing to see that the EGG line did not pick up where it left off from last game. especially given that this team was ready to be had. Despite the outstanding play of Ben Bishop this season alot of credit should be given to how coach Cooper has instilled a more defensive focused system with his players that the whole team has bought into.

The Canadiens did look sharp on the penalty kill especially in the later parts of the game when they killed off three in the third period alone and were able to hold back the Bolts short-handed during overtime, which lead to a penalty shoot-out.

The Canadiens had very little opportunities to score in the early going against Bishop only taking 13 shots towards goal, but were able to get 10 shots on goal in the third which helped break the shut-out bid for the netminder.

Price looked good for the Canadiens as he stopped 44/45 shots he faced and really did not seem to have mch help from his teammates who are usually lining up to stop shots in front of him. The Lightning were a good puck moving team but that should not mean that on home ice the opposition outplays them especially being short their super-star.

The Canadiens need to find their rhythm before they dig themselves a hole they will come to regret. Especially in these very significant division games that make every point count. The shoot-out point should not be taken as a moral victory. They shouldn't have been outplayed on home ice that much and needed a far better outing than the ones they have given their fans of late.

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