Play it like a road game: Canadiens at Lightning Game Seven Preview

Game Seven: Montreal Canadiens (3-3) at Tampa Bay Lightning (3-3)

Time: 6:00 PM EST

Location: Benchmark International Arena, Tampa, FL (Lightning are 4-1 in Game 7 Home Games)

TV/Stream/Radio: The Spot, TNT, truTV, HBOMax, ESPN+, 102.5 FM, Lightning App

Odds: Lightning

Know the Opponents: Habs Eye on the Prize

There is a story, perhaps anecdotal, that occasionally circulates around the internets about George Lucas’ directorial style while shooting the original Star Wars movie (aka Episode Four aka A New Hope). Basically, his advice to his actors was to deliver their lines “faster with more intensity“.

On Friday night, the Tampa Bay Lightning heeded the heralded director’s advice and played their game at a faster pace with way more intensity than they had displayed in previous games, especially Game Five. The result, a 1-0 overtime victory, and a chance to win the series on home ice. Now, do they take advantage of the opportunity or let it slip through their fingers?

There was very much a risk factor in their game, and at times, okay for most of the game, they were lucky to have Andrei Vasilevskiy at the top of his game to bail them out of dangerous situations. That being said, Tampa Bay needs to play with that risk in their game. When they play with their hair on fire they are a better team. Yes, Montreal was waiting to counter their attacks and caught them with a few odd-skater rushes along the way, but the Lightning not only survived, they thrived.

In a must-win game, the underlying stats have to be taken with a grain of salt, but it’s no coincidence that the Bolts had their best game in terms of scoring chances (47) and high-danger chances (27) when they were more aggressive in the zone, especially with their defensemen. Not only were they launching shots from the blue line (Darren Raddysh had 17 shot attempts alone), but the defenders were getting down low. Emil Lilleberg was behind the Canadiens’ net to start the game-winning sequence on Gage Goncalves’ overtime goal.

They need to carry that over into Game Seven. The most disappointing part of their Game 5 loss was the lack of intensity in their play. They seemed more concerned with preventing Montreal from scoring than they were in attacking. Yes, it’s always good to focus on defense, but they had swung a little too heavily in that direction and weren’t willing to take the chances in the offensive zone to put the Canadiens back on their heels. That script flipped in Game Six.

That being said, they can’t go all-gas, no brakes. Montreal is too good of a team to not take advantage two games in a row. As aggressive as the Lightning were in the offensive zone, they struggled at times in their own zone with coverage. Vasilevskiy was forced to make many of his saves because Habs’ players were getting open on set plays in the zone. For the majority of the series, the Lightning have had pretty good coverage. If they can dial that back in again, it shouldn’t take away from their attack.

This has truly been a coin-flip series, and there is no reason to think Game Seven is going to be any different. It’s going to take a team-wide effort for the Lightning to complete the series comeback. Players that might have struggled throughout the season can redeem themselves with one play. Gage Goncalves is a prime example. His season has had some wild swings, but he put himself in the right place to make a difference on Friday and he didn’t miss (at least on the second attempt). As nice as the goal was, his willingness to battle in front of the net as the play was developing was just as important to making it happen as Dominic James’ pass was.

It’s going to be fun. It’s going to be stressful. It’s going to be a Game Seven. Enjoy!

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Montreal Canadiens

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