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AP Photo / Phelan M. Ebenhack
The Montreal Canadiens stayed alive in their Stanley Cup final series against the Tampa Bay Lightning by beating the visitors 3-2 in overtime on Monday at the Bell Center.
Montreal Canadiens @CanadiansMTL
BUT WINNER OF JOSH ANDERSON IN EXTENSION !!!
JOSH ANDERSON WINS IT IN OT !!!#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/Xj0dbfDcKm
Montreal Canadiens @CanadiansMTL
🤯🤯🤯#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/xVA5FC498i
Canadiens right winger Josh Anderson scored two goals, including the game-winning goal at 3:57 into extra time. Montreal completed a four-minute shorthanded penalty following a high stick penalty from Shea Weber just 58 seconds earlier.
Tampa Bay dominated Montreal 34-21 and hit three goalposts in the evening, including one from Nikita Kucherov with 2:27 left in the third and the score was tied at two.
Tampa Bay, which beat the Dallas Stars in the Stanley Cup last year, leads Montreal three to one in the best of seven games after losing in Game 4.
Notable performances
Canadiens AC Josh Anderson: 2 G, 3 SOG
Canadians D Alexander Romanov: 1 G
Canadiens RW Cole Caufield: 2 A
Canadiens G Carey Price: 32 SV
Lightning RW Barclay Goodrow: 1 G, 2 SOG
Lightning LW Pat Maroon: 1 G, 3 SOG
Canadians fight their way to Game 4 victory
Only four teams have overcome 3-0 deficits in NHL playoff history, and only one (the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs) made it to the Stanley Cup final.
It will be a tall order for Montreal to do so even after winning Game 4, but the formidable courage and persistence of the Canadiens, combined with goalie Carey Price, kept the season alive on Monday.
Anderson and Price were Habs heroes as they continued their quest for the team’s first Stanley Cup since 1993.
Anderson was in the right place at the right time to open the scoring thanks to the work of Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield:
Montreal Canadiens @CanadiansMTL
Caufield.
Suzuki.
Anderson.
With that, the Canadiens found themselves in a position they hadn’t been in every series, according to Sportsnet’s Eric Engels:
Lightning right winger Barclay Goodrow tied the score at one in the second period, but rookie defenseman Alexander Romanov responded in the third with his first playoff tally.
Montreal Canadiens @CanadiansMTL
FIRST BUT IN SERIES FOR ROMANOV.
OBJECTIVE OF THE FIRST OBJECTIVE OF THE CAREER SERIES FOR ROMANOV.#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/fsNddxN5nz
StatsCentre noted that Romanov made history along the way, despite only making his third career playoff game:
Statistics center @Statistics center
Playing only his 3rd game of these playoffs, Alexander Romanov’s 2-1 tally tonight joined him with Serge Savard (2 in 1968) & Guy Lapointe (1971) as the only one. @CanadiansMTL rookie defender to score a goal in the SC final. At 21 & 180 days old, he is also the youngest to do so pic.twitter.com/ZaauC0w07J
The Lightning had a golden opportunity to come home as back-to-back Stanley Cup winners when Canadiens defenseman Shea Weber was called up for a high stick on Lightning left winger Ondrej Palat.
Tampa Bay had four shots on goal in overtime with a power play, but Price saved them all to preserve the tie.
It was a phenomenal effort from Price, who kept his team in the game all night despite a flurry of Lightning shots.
NHL @NHL
Carey Price (@ CP0031) is on his game tonight! #StanleyCup
🇺🇸: https://t.co/5iBqKP5ea2 @NHLonNBCSports
🇨🇦: https://t.co/pLdthhzu7f @Sportsnet pic.twitter.com/zP8o4QWDXe
TSN’s Pierre LeBrun credited the Canadiens for their back-to-wall effort:
Pierre LeBrun @PierreVLeBrun
The four-minute PK followed by a goal from Josh Anderson OT. What a sequence. No way they want the season to end with their captain in the box.
The Habs offer their fans a final Stanley Cup moment.
The Canadiens were able to tap into their 2021 playoff magic at least once again.
Less than a minute after Price’s leading penalty kill kept the Lightning from playing, Anderson sent the Montreal crowd into a frenzy:
Sportsnet @Sportsnet
THE REACTION OUTSIDE THE CENTER BELL TO WINNER OT JOSH ANDERSON! 🎉🚨#ItsOn | #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/DchuSHbnBs
As Bally Sports’ Pete Blackburn noted, it was an incredible effort from Anderson, who never gave up on the play.
With that, the Canadians stayed alive. They may have faced a dire situation, but don’t tell Anderson, who expected Montreal to pull it off and force a Game 5:
TSN @TSN_Sports
“We were expecting to go to Tampa tomorrow. We packed our bags this afternoon. We just had a feeling we were going to win tonight.”
Josh Anderson and the Habs were ready to pack their bags in Tampa. pic.twitter.com/IQNuBUE0Kr
It will be a long road until Game 7, but all that matters now is that the Canadiens survived, advanced and moved on to Tampa.
Unlucky lightning falls despite a solid effort
The Lightning had 13 more shots than the Canadiens and hit three goal posts in a night where they were the better team than Montreal everywhere except on the scoreboard.
Great credit goes to the Canadians for their determination to lose 3-0 in the series, especially on the penalty kill and the game-winning goal.
But Tampa Bay left plenty of opportunities at the door.
For starters, the Lightning got 0 out of 5 on the power play. They played 10 minutes with the extra man thanks to four minor penalties and a minor double, but couldn’t get away.
It was a surprising result for a Tampa Bay team that had converted 33.8% of their power play odds these playoffs.
No chance was greater than minor double Weber, who gave Tampa Bay 2:59 with an extra man early in overtime. Nothing ever came of it, however.
Ultimately, the killer was the Lightning’s third goal post of the night, which happened just before Weber’s penalty kick. Kucherov put himself in an excellent position for the match winner, but his shot echoed off the post and flew harmlessly.
Lightning head coach Jon Cooper has spoken about the post-game, according to Bryan Burns of the team’s official website.
Bryan burns @BBurnsNHL
Jon Cooper said he didn’t react much on the bench, but jumped in his stride on Kucherov’s back shot late in regulation time. He said that #Bolts had a chance, they just didn’t get into it. “You can’t pick your adversity, you hit a bit of it and you have to fight your way through it.”
As Cooper noted, the Lightning had their chances, and they converted on two of them. Goodrow’s goal came at 5:20 pm of the second period following a turnaround in the Canadiens’ own zone:
NHL on NBC Sports @NHLNBCSports
ALL TIED UP. 🚨#GoBolts gets the equalizer at the end of the second. #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/86HoP6IEqE
In the third period, Pat Maroon won in the clutch after Tyler Johnson skated for the Canadiens and sliced ​​a pass to the forward, who took care of the rest at 13:48 of the third. period:
NHL on NBC Sports @NHLNBCSports
PAT BROWN THE LIE! #GoBolts
đź“ş: NBC pic.twitter.com/eamrEYGrkh
The momentum was squarely on the Lightning’s side for the rest of regulation and overtime, but that winning goal didn’t come.
Ultimately, the Lightning still have a 3-1 lead in this series and come home to Amalie Arena for Game 5. They were great for much of the Cup, even though that game didn’t. is not unfolded as they wish.
And after?
Tampa Bay will host Montreal for Game 5 on Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET.
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