The Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Montreal Canadiens 4-1 to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals. They will either face the New York Rangers or Washington Capitals.
The Lightning entered Tuesday night’s game up 3-2 in the series. Generally, when facing an elimination game, a team shows at least some life.
Nope. Not the Canadians. It was an episode of The Walking Dead.
No pulse. No life. Nothing. So, of course, the Lightning take advantage of The Walking Dead and constantly ambush goalie Carey Price to win the game.
Quite a few losing teams outshoot the winning team, but not this game. The Lightning managed 28 shots to Montreal’s measly 19. The Canadiens provided no protection for Price, who is nominated for the Hart Trophy for MVP. However, he can only do so much and cannot carry the entire team.
Nikita Kucherov scored his fifth and sixth goal of the playoffs. The 21-year-old is going to enjoy a very bright future. Just look at his goals. They are mesmerizing.
And captain Steven Stamkos! He was noticeably absent in their first round against the Detroit Red Wings but man he is hot. Look at these stats! The man is showing up when his team needs him.
The Canadiens showed a glimpse of life towards the end of the second period, but Devante Smith-Pelly committed a stupid holding penalty. The Lightning easily scored on the power play, thus zapping all life out of Montreal.
Major props to the Lightning. It was a do or die game for them since they did not want to return to Montreal to play Game 7 in a rowdy Bell Centre. Ryan Callahan, one of their stars, missed the game due to an emergency appendectomy, but it did not stop them. In fact, they came together and conquered the Canadiens.
While people talk up Price and Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist, Lightnings goalie Ben Bishop better become a household name, especially if the Lightning advance to the Stanley Cup Finals. He did not face many shots but he came up big time for his team when.
Bishop and the Lightning will be a major challenge for either the Capitals or Rangers.
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