Game Four: Brooms Broken

The Tampa Bay Lightning entered this game knowing that a win would give them their second straight Stanley Cup. Their game plan was to dominate and take this game so they can hoist the Cup once again. While the Stanley Cup was at the Bell Center, however, the hometown Montréal Canadiens had other plans. The game did not start well for the Habs, as it was all Lightning when it came to shots on goal. Despite this, it remained scoreless until Josh Anderson's wrister beat Andrei Vasilevskiy 15:39 into the first period, and for the first time in the entire series, the Canadiens had the lead.

It was 1-0 after 20 minutes, but the Tampa Bay shots kept coming, mainly due to their Power Play time in the 2nd period. There were also some missed calls against the Canadiens, with Tampa Bay getting away with tripping on two occasions. The first of those two was followed by Barclay Goodrow shooting the puck inside a nearly empty net to tie it up, doing so 17:20 into the 2nd period. For the former San Jose Shark, it was his second of the playoffs, and after 40 minutes, the game was tied at 1. One regulation period left, and the Lightning still dominated in shots. However, at 8:48 into the 3rd period, it was Alexander Romanov firing a beauty of a wrister from just in front of the blue line, right into the net. Canadiens took a 2-1 lead, but exactly five minutes later, Patrick Maroon (who was looking for his third straight Stanley Cup) tied the game.

The clock was winding down, it looked like it was going to be anyone's game, then...it happened. With 61 seconds left in regulation, Shea Weber's stick strikes Ondrej Palat's face, and blood is drawn. So the Lightning went on a double minor Power Play--four minutes! At that point, I thought, "Well, that's it. The Habs have lost the Cup." Many people had that thought. Four minutes is a long time to be shorthanded, especially against a team who is one win away from a Cup, and even worse, with the game heading into OT. The Habs managed to kill the remaining 1:01 in regulation to go to overtime, but the Lightning still had 2:59 left in the double minor entering the extra frame.

However, overtime started with the Bolts losing about half of that time trying to get set up; in fact, the PP was so messy that the Habs actually had a shorthanded breakaway that almost cashed in! The Canadiens penalty kill (which had been huge this entire postseason) managed to kill all of the double minor, and shortly afterwards, the Habs broke away again. Cole Caufield had the puck, passed it to Josh Anderson, who put it in at 3:57 into overtime. The Canadiens won, 3-2, and kept hope alive.

The Lightning outshot the Canadiens 34-21, but their Power Play was their undoing--0/5 on the man advantage. Josh Anderson had two goals, Cole Caufield had two helpers, and Carey Price had 32 saves in the Habs' win. The Canadiens are three wins away from their 25th Stanley Cup, but they'll have to win them in a row. The "reverse sweep" has happened four times in Stanley Cup Playoff history, with the most recent being the Los Angeles Kings in 2014. Also, the Canadiens' Game Four win means that for the 22nd straight time, the Stanley Cup Final will not end in a four game sweep. 1998 was the last time a sweep happened, with the Detroit Red Wings bringing out the brooms against the Washington Capitals.

One more thing. Tampa Bay mayor Jane Castor actually asked the Lightning to lose Game Four so they can win the Cup on home ice. Strangely, she could get her wish. Game Five is Wednesday back in Tampa Bay.

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