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Tampa Bay Lightning Sets New Franchise Records In Win Over Montreal

By Tasha St. Pierre

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5. 23. Final. 3. 152

Despite all of the injuries the Lightning are facing right now, the Tampa Bay Lightning clinch their spot in the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs and set new franchise records in season sweep of the Montreal Canadiens.

The Tampa Bay Lightning has been masters of the impossible this season. That same theory continued into tonight’s encounter as the Lightning has successfully completed the series sweep of the Montreal Canadiens for the first time in franchise history and successfully clinched their spot in the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

When all the action kicked off tonight, Tampa Bay Lightning fans had something to be incredibly happy about. The opening faceoff would be taken by the player that almost no one expected to play in tonight’s game, Cedric Paquette.

Paquette was injured on Saturday night at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit as the young center found himself sliding across the ice and crashing into the goal post. We don’t know about you, but we had flashbacks of the dreaded Steven Stamkos injury last season all over again.

Thankfully, Paquette is one tough guy and was able to battle back and make it onto the ice tonight.

So…let’s talk about the play on the ice. The first period between the Lightning and the Canadiens was probably one of the most uneventful periods that we have seen in quite some time. In fact, the action really didn’t begin to kick into high gear until the last 8-9 minutes of the period.

In the first period, the Tampa Bay Lightning got three shots on the Power Play, one that evolved into a 22 second 5-on-3 situation. Despite the fact that they spent a good portion of the Power Play in the Canadiens’ zone, the Bolts were unable to capitalize on the opportunity.

The one thing that we find curious about the first period is the Canadiens’ sheer lack of offense. The Habs went over 11 minutes between shots on goal; which is very good for the Lightning, but very uncharacteristic for the Canadiens.

Until around 16:45 in the period when the Canadiens got their first crack on the Power Play, their shots on goal were rather non-existent. This is something they somewhat resolved during their Power Play attempt.

When the buzzer sounded to end the first period, we would remain scoreless with the Lightning outshooting the Canadiens 13-7. As we mentioned before, the Canadiens had a shocking lack of offense for most of the first period. At some point, we wondered why Bishop didn’t just pull up a chair and relax for a while.

The second period was bit of a different animal. The Lightning truly came alive in the third, which is a nice change of pace from the way things have been going lately.

It was just 1:24 in the first period when Lightning center Vladislav Namestnikov scored his 8th goal of the season to get the Tampa Bay Lightning on the board first.

The Lightning would find themselves presented with an opportunity to pull ahead and find themselves a comfortable spot in this game, but unfortunately it was the wrong jersey that made their move.

Canadiens right wing Dale Weise found himself being sent to the box for a total of 4 minutes; 2 for Slashing Lightning goaltender Ben Bishop and an additional 2 for Unsportsmanlike Conduct. Unfortunately for the Lightning, it was the Canadiens who would capitalize.

Canadiens left wing Max Pacioretty would make his way to the net, firing off a snap shot that found its way past Bishop and into the back of the net to tie things up for the Canadiens.

On the bright side, the Lightning used that goal as inspiration to get their heads back into the game. Just over 30 seconds later, Lightning left wing Jonathan Drouin would snap a very long scoring drought by scoring his 3 goal of the season during the Lightning Power Play, putting the Lightning back on top.

From the way that things were looking just over the halfway point in the second, you would never know that the Lightning was missing three key pieces of their defense.

The Bolts were able to hold the Canadiens to just 9 shots on goal at the 12 minute mark in the period. On the other side of the ice, the Lightning was sitting pretty with 26.

It would be just under 14 minutes after Drouin’s Power Play goal that things would start to heat up once again. The Canadiens make an uncharacteristic turn over in their defensive zone which is sniped by Ondrej Palat and sent to Namestnikov. Namestnikov fires the puck off to Nikita Kucherov, who picks up his 28th goal of the season to give the Lightning a two-goal lead over the Canadiens.

When the buzzer would sound to end the second period, the Tampa Bay Lightning would find themselves with a two-goal lead over the Montreal Canadiens with a score of 3-1. The Bolts would continue to dominate offensively, outshooting the Canadiens 18-6 in the second.

So far in the game, the Lightning has held the Canadiens offense to just 13 shots on goal. On the other hand, Habs netminder Carey Price has been a busy bee tonight, having stopped 28 of the 31 shots brought against him thus far.

One of the things that we are glad to see tonight is the Lightning’s Power Play squad come alive. There was a bump in the road when they allowed the shorthanded goal early in the second, but for the most part they have been greatly improved from a majority of the season.

There is one thing that is rather interesting about tonight’s game. Ben Bishop has somehow earned himself an assist on not one, but two goals so far in this encounter. Bishop’s first assist came on Namestnikov’s goal early in the second and the second came Drouin’s Power Play Goal just under the five minute mark.

Bishop is the first goaltender in franchise history to record two assists in one game.

While something like this is not completely unheard of in the National Hockey League, it is nice to know that Bishop can multi-task so efficiently with little to no consequence. Bishop may not have much experience in the post season, but there is no denying that he is playing playoff-caliber hockey right now.

When the third period kicked off, the Montreal Canadiens seemed to remember that they had a hockey game to win. Just 23 seconds into the first period, Habs defenseman Jeff Petry would capitalize on his opportunity and send the puck flying past Bishop to make this a one-goal game.

It isn’t long until the Tampa Bay Lightning would come barreling back down the ice. Unfortunately for Alex Killorn, he is totally robbed by Price in front of the net on what was a spectacular opportunity.

At 6:21 in the period, Namestnikov would sink his 2nd goal of the evening and his 9th goal of the season to put the Lightning back on top by two. The lone assist on the goal would be attributed to Vladdy’s current linemate Ondrej Palat. This could very well be one of the best plays that Palat has made all season long.

There is one thing that caused concern for Tampa Bay Lightning fans during the third period. It was curious that Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman was nowhere to be found on the bench for a good portion of the third period. There is no word at this point exactly what the issue with Hedman is, but we’ll keep you updated.

At 16:10 in the third, the Canadiens would come to life once again with a Power Play goal from P.K. Subban. This puts the Canadiens within one goal of the Lightning once again. It was just about 30 seconds later when all hell broke loose in front of the Lightning net.

After Bishop had already covered the puck, the Canadiens would continue to take jabs at him with no interference from the referees. Apparently, Bishop finally had enough of the shenanigans when he decided to unload on Habs right wing Brendan Gallagher. This would create a 4-on-4 situation for the Lightning.

The 4-on-4 would come to an end without incident, but it is what happened in the final minute of the game that put the final nail in the season series against the Canadiens. Lightning defenseman Anton Stralman would sed the puck down the ice towards the Empty Net and put the Lightning up by two once again.

When the final buzzer would sound, the Tampa Bay Lightning would defeat the Montreal Canadiens 5-3! This means so very many things for the Lightning. The most important at this point is that the Tampa Bay Lightning has officially earned their spot in the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs!

Also, as we mentioned before Bishop has become the first goalie in franchise history to notch two points in a game. Also, he has tied last season’s win record with 37. Considering there are still five games left in the season, there is still a chance that Bishop could break this record.

Did we forget to mention that the Tampa Bay Lightning has officially surpassed their franchise record for wins in a single season with their 47th win? This means that this year’s squad has officially surpassed the 2004 Stanley Cup team. Is this a premonition of things to come?

Tonight’s win also means that the Tampa Bay Lightning has completed the Season Sweep against the Montreal Canadiens. This is the first time in franchise history that the team has done this.

All in all, this was a multi-record setting encounter that no one expected from a team like the Lightning who are suffering so badly at this late point in the season from the dastardly injury bug. This is not to say that there were not a few bumps in the road on their way to this point, but all in all it was a solid, high octane outing from the Tampa Bay Lightning.

At the sound of the final buzzer, the Lightning outshot the Canadiens 44-28. We have to tip our hats to Carey Price for a moment. Had anyone else been in net, we can’t say that they would have held up as well as he did against the Lightning’s onslaught tonight.

The Lightning did a good job, for the most part, of keeping themselves out of the penalty box and played a complete hockey game through and through.

If this is the kind of play that we have to look forward to in the post season, then we can’t wait for the puck to drop on the post season. Unfortunately for the Lightning, they have no time to sit back and celebrate tonight’s win. They have to pack up their equipment and head to the Air Canada Centre to do battle with the Toronto Maple Leafs tomorrow night.

The Tampa Bay Lightning has only dropped one game to the Maple Leafs this season, which was back on November 20th when they would fall 5-2. The Bolts have the opportunity to put the nail in this coffin and end another season series on a high note.

The Lightning seem ready to face down all comers. The question now becomes whether or not we are ready to Be The Thunder once again. The puck drops tomorrow night at 7:30 p.m. Are you ready?

Next: Jason Garrison Out 3-4 Weeks with an Upper Body Injury

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