The Montreal Canadiens sure aren’t doing anything the easy way this spring. For the second series in a row, they blew a chance to clinch a round on home ice in Game 6 as they blew a 3-1 lead on their way to an 8-3 loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday. Now they’ll have to head into Buffalo tonight and try to win another Game 7 on the road if they want to advance to the Eastern Conference Final.
Meanwhile, Carolina is more than happy to watch the two teams beat each other up as they set a record for time off between rounds. While they don’t know who they are facing, they do know that they are kicking off the ECF on Thursday the 21st at home with the game being broadcast on TNT/HBOMax/truTV. The Western Conference Final between the Golden Knights and Avalanche will start on Wednesday and be broadcast on ESPN.
Montreal is leaning on their experience from the first round where they lost to the Lightning on home ice in Game 6 and then traveled down to Tampa to pick up the 2-1 win. It’s unlikely, based on how the series against the Sabres has gone, that the game will be a 2-1 finish in either direction. The teams have combined for 45 goals in the first six games with Game 4’s 3-2 final the lowest scoring affair of the series.
If nothing else, it should be a fun contest.
Hockey News
Declan Carlile with a goal in Team USA’s 5-1 win over Great Britain
Lightning hosting 9th annual Brewfest [Tampa Bay Lightning]
We like beer. We like the Lightning. Now that we’re back in the area, this sounds like an event that perhaps we should attend. Early bird sales are underway for the July 25th event.
Jeff Halpern could be considered for Leafs job [RMNB]
There is a lot of speculation in this report, but it seems Elliotte Friedman brought up the Lightning’s assistant coach as a possible Craig Berube replacement behind the bench for the Leafs.
Building the best line-up of players that never won the Stanley Cup with their team [The Athletic]
This is a fun thought exercise that we might have to explore a little later this summer. For those that don’t have a subscription, The Athletic went with Brian Bradley, Brandon Hagel, Vinny Prospal, Roman Hamrlik, Anton Stralman, and Daren Puppa. Personally, we would have gone with Ben Bishop over Puppa, but it’s a pretty good list.
Everett Silvertips win WHL Championship [CHL]
With Everett joining host team Kelowna from the WHL, and the QMJHL coming down to Moncton or Chicoutimi, Sam O’Reilly will be the only Lightning prospect competing in this year’s Memorial Cup. Guess we’re all rooting for Kitchener later this week.
Montreal wins Game 2 in OT, leads series 2-0 [PWHL]
It took an overtime goal from Maggie Flaherty, but the Victoire won Game 2 to take a commanding 2-0 lead over Ottawa in the best of five series.
