Tampa Bay Lightning Crumble As Canadiens Force Game 5

The Tampa Bay Lightning fell apart in Game 4 against the Montreal Canadiens, sending the series back to the Bell Centre for Game 5.

The Tampa Bay Lightning had a special opportunity in front of them tonight; an opportunity to usher the Montreal Canadiens out of the post season in the very same way they did to the Lightning last season. Unfortunately, this was just not meant to be.

The Tampa Bay Lightning played what looked like one of the sloppiest and lackadaisical games they have played all season long, which opened the door for the Montreal Canadiens to avoid elimination and defeat the Tampa Bay Lightning for the first time this season by the score of 6-2.

The game started off fairly calm; however, that calm would only last so long before everything would be turned on its head. Just under three minutes into the game, the Montreal Canadiens would draw first blood with a goal by Canadiens defenseman Andrei Markov off a pass from his fellow defenseman P.K. Subban.

While this is not exactly what one would call the end of the world, as the Tampa Bay Lightning has come back from much worse, but allowing the Canadiens to strike first blood and dictate the pace early on is not the way we wanted our Boys in Blue to start this game out.

Just when you thought that things were about to swing back into the Lightning’s favor, the Canadiens come along and show us just how hard they are willing to fight for their post season lives. It was only about 6 minutes later when the Canadiens would strike again with a shorthanded goal from Max Pacioretty.

In the first period of play, it almost seemed as if the Lightning forgot they had a game to win tonight. They showed very little aggression and the defense allowed the Canadiens to enter the zone with far too little resistance.

Of course, we’re sure it didn’t help team morale when the referees allowed Alexei Emelin to cross check Tyler Johnson in the back of the neck while he was trapped down on the ice, but with the Canadiens scratching and clawing for every opportunity, legal or not, the Tampa Bay Lightning would have to find a way to overcome.

The Tampa Bay Lightning all know what needs to be done in order to come home with a win in tonight’s encounter, but they seem to be losing the plot right around the point of execution. The Tampa Bay Lightning would have to have a much better second period than their first if they desired to bring home the victory tonight.

As the second period got underway, things just seemed to get worse and worse for the Tampa Bay Lightning. At 5:08 into the first, Canadiens center David Desharnais would fire the puck towards Bishop. It would seem as if Bishop had everything under control, but the puck would bounce right out of the glove and right behind Bishop and into the back of the net to give the Canadiens a three-goal lead.

In a shocking – but not entirely surprising – turn of events, this would be the end of the night for Lightning netminder Ben Bishop. After letting in three goals, Lightning Head Coach Jon Cooper pulled the 6’7” netminder and sent out Andrei Vasilevskiy in his place.

The clock ticked closer and closer to the halfway point in the period and the sense of impending doom seemed to fill the air. Unfortunately, that feeling of doom and gloom was well warranted. Just before the halfway point in the period, the Montreal Canadiens would score 2 goals just 15 seconds apart from one another.

The first goal came at the hands of defenseman Jeff Petry while the Canadiens were on the PP due to Ryan Callahan’s High Sticking on Canadiens center Tomas Plekanec. The second would come at the hands of Brendan Gallagher, who would sink his third goal of the post season.

At 12:26 in the period, the Tampa Bay Lightning would finally make their way into this game. The Bolts would score thanks to right wing Nikita Kucherov with assists from his linemate Ondrej Palat and defenseman Anton Stralman.

After the Kucherov goal, it looked as if the Tampa Bay Lightning finally woke up and realized that they were allowing this game to slip through their fingers as a result of sloppy and lackadaisical play. The period would come to an end with the Lightning down 5-1 against the Canadiens.

When the Tampa Bay Lightning hit the ice for the third period it seemed like they all of a sudden woke up and remembered that they had a game to win. Canadiens right wing Dale Weise began the period in the penalty box as he finished off his two minute penalty for Roughing Braydon Coburn.

The Lightning used the man advantage to gain some room on the Canadiens. It would be Ondrej Palat who would find the back of the net just 17 minutes into the period. This would make it 5-2 Canadiens. Unfortunately, the Canadiens found a way to throw some ice cold water on the Lightning’s fire.

Brandon Prust would release a backhanded shot, which for a split second looked like it was kicked by Lightning defenseman Jason Garrison, that found its way into the back of the net and gave the Canadiens a 6-2 lead over the Lightning.

Time would continue to tick off the clock, but the situation would not exponentially change for the Tampa Bay Lightning. When the final buzzer would sound, the Tampa Bay Lightning would suffer their first loss of the series by the score of 6-2.

Allow us to start off by saying that we are just as disappointed as you are. The Lightning had the perfect opportunity and through much fault of their own, the opportunity flew past them. On the other hand, this is not the end of the world that some people would make it out to be.

Yes, the Tampa Bay Lightning played a horrific game tonight. For the first two periods of play it almost looked as if the Lightning forgot how to play the game. There were some glimmers of the Lightning we have come to know, but it was simply too little, too late.

Now the series is headed back to the Bell Centre for Game 5. The Lightning are not only going to be faced with a tough crowd that would love nothing less than to see the Lightning fall flat on their faces, but a team that is still fighting for their playoff life.

If the Tampa Bay Lightning want to finish off this series once and for all, they are going to have to find the fire in their souls that has fueled their game all season long. When Jon Cooper looks at the tapes tonight, we are sure that he is not only going to have some words with certain players, but he will know what adjustments need to be made before Game 5.

At the end of the day this is just one bad game. Yes, it may have been one of the ugliest all season long, but it is still just one lone game. The Tampa Bay Lightning has a day to gather themselves and come up with a plan before they have to face the Canadiens again. This gives them plenty of opportunity to get back on track.

While we are just as disappointed as the rest of the Bolts Nation, we still very much believe that the Tampa Bay Lightning has what it takes to get the job done and advance to the next round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Game 5 will take place on Saturday night at 7:00 p.m. at the Bell Centre in Montreal. We are calling on you, the Bolts Nation, to be there for our Boys in Blue. While they may be thousands of miles away, the Lightning will always need their Thunder. Are you ready to Be The Thunder on Saturday night?

Next: Tampa Bay Lightning: One on One with Sticks of Fire

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