Tampa Bay Lightning Win OT Thriller Against Montreal

The Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Montreal Canadiens 1 to 0 at the Bell Centre tonight. The score absolutely does not indicate whatsoever just how exciting this game was.

Wow! What an unbelievable game played tonight by the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Montreal Canadiens. You want playoff intensity? Check. You want great defense? Double check. You want goalies playing on their heads frustrating the opposing players? Check, check and wait for it……check.

Everything you could want in a game and more was delivered by both franchises through sixty minutes. It took three full periods and then a little over a minute into the overtime before either goalie let a puck in the net. At 1:03 of the extra frame, Tyler Johnson finally erased the goose eggs from the scoreboard and gave the visiting Lightning a win on the road, in Montreal. Jason Garrison and newcomer, Braydon Coburn earned the assists on the game winner.

Montreal could not stop the Triplets line all night. Johnson, Nikita Kucherov and Ondrej Palat were relentless in the attacking zone as well as back checking in the neutral zone forcing a number of turnovers by the Canadiens. Michel Therrien, the Montreal coach, threw all four of his lines at different times at the Trips but could not find anyone to outplay them.

The OT goal by T.J. was a thing of beauty. After getting the puck a few feet in front of Ben Bishop in the Lightning zone, Johnson, in his patented burst of speed, headed up the left side, zipped through the neutral zone, and in the Montreal zone.

Canadiens defenseman, Tom Gilbert who had been battling Johnson all night, was backing up fast when T.J. slipped the puck through Gilbert’s feet, passing it to himself while going behind the net. Coming around the other side, Johnson attempted to feed a streaking Kucherov in front of Montreal goalie, Carey Price when the puck hit Gilbert’s skate and went past Price for the lone goal.

There is some bad news as Ondrej Palat missed the entire third period with a dreaded lower body injury suffered late in the second as he turned around to block a shot. It was that kind of game. Without a doubt neither team left anything in the tank, it was all left out there on the ice.

Coach Jon Cooper said that the remaining schedule was going to be a measuring stick for his team. Smart guy, that Coop. Last month on the verge of the brutal west coast road trip, Cooper said that would be a big test for his young team.

They answered the bell then; tonight they not only answered the bell but placed the Bell Centre measuring stick in an unmentionable area. If your team is going to make a long playoff run, they must be able to win games like tonight.

Up and down the Lightning roster, the team took it to the Canadiens. At the end of one period the Tampa Bay Lightning had a 10 to 6 shots on goal advantage. Through two, they had 23 shots to 17 for Montreal. In the final regulation period, it was total domination as the ice was tilted in Tampa’s favor and they outshot Montreal 10 to 2. Even in the brief overtime period, the Lightning had the only three shots on goal.

Any discussion of this game would not be complete without tipping your hat to both goalies. Ben Bishop stopped all 19 Montreal shots he faced. Carey Price stopped 35 of 36 shots including one off the referee behind Price that he somehow managed to smother.

There is no rest for the weary as the Lightning have little time to enjoy this victory as the team travels to Boston to face the Boston Bruins on Thursday night. Knowing Cooper, I am sure he will say the game against Boston is a true barometer of his team. If this game is even half as exciting as the game tonight, we are all in for a treat.

For those keeping score, the Coburn era in Tampa still is undefeated with four wins. Puck drops Thursday at the TD Garden at 7:00 p.m.

Next: Tampa Bay Lightning Stare Down a Tough Week Ahead

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