Montreal Canadiens Win in OT and Force Game 5 at Tampa Bay


As Tampa Bay trampled the Canadians in Game 1 and outstripped them in Game 2, they resisted the temptation to make personnel changes, choosing to focus on themselves. But desperation encourages action.

In an effort to encourage more attack, Ducharme replaced forward Jesperi Kotkaniemi with Jake Evans, shuffling Montreal’s lines and moving Anderson to a Nick Suzuki centered line to add a clear look and more speed. Ducharme also backed up the entirety of Montreal’s third defensive match, replacing Jon Merrill and Erik Gustafsson with Brett Kulak and rookie Alexander Romanov, whom Ducharme calls the more dynamic skaters.

These moves proved forward-thinking almost 16 minutes into the first period, after a slow start – just a shot to the point for Montreal – the Canadiens took the first lead of the series in a lineup starting with Kulak, deftly avoiding pressure on his own. It ended with Suzuki whipping a stylish backhand pass into a wrinkling Anderson.

Romanov, who hadn’t played since Game 1 against Vegas in the previous round, scored a 1-1 draw into the second second at 8:48, passing Andrei Vasilevskiy with his wrist whistling from the Artturi Lehkonen screen. And again, Anderson was the one who had Montreal’s suitcase players assemble before the game, after Patrick Maroon converted two-to-one with 6:12 left on the regulations.

Anderson smashed the left flank, outstripping defender Jan Rutta and driving into the net and making a backhand pass towards the crease. Cole Caufield hit Yanni Gourde’s stick directly into the puck, which deflected it towards Anderson, who had never seen it come in, falling as he shot him.

“I looked at the referee’s hands and saw a group of people coming up to me,” Anderson said.

These people were all clad in bleu, blanc et rouge, enjoying avoiding what would be the first sweep in the Cup finals since 1998 and winning what they hoped wasn’t the last game of this awkward season at Bell Center.

Only four teams in NHL history have tackled a zero deficit in three games, and only one – the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs – has done so in the finals. No team can hold onto history like the Canadiens – Yvan Cournoyer, Guy LaFleur and Patrick Roy, all legends – attended Monday’s game and even though they didn’t win the first, second or third game of the series, at least play fifth now.



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