TAMPA, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Montreal Canadiens, 3-1, in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final at home on Wednesday night. It was a game with outstanding goaltending, and a goal-of-the-year candidate from Blake Coleman that beat the second-period buzzer.
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Stanley Cup Final Game 2 in 10 words or fewer
Still can’t believe Blake Coleman scored that goal.
The Lightning are fond of reminding everyone that when things go wrong for them, they know Vasilevskiy is going to be there to save the day. Well, the shot suppression they exhibited in their last three home games wasn’t there in Game 2, as Montreal peppered Vasilevskiy with 43 shots. He turned away all but one of them, and the one he let in was a double-deflection goal.
He now has a .968 save percentage in the first two games of this series, stopping 60 of 62 shots. Carey Price has an .840 save percentage in the series. Advantage: Big Cat.
What worked for Tampa Bay?
Besides Vasilevskiy bailing out every mistake they made, it was the Lightning’s depth that won the day again. The three goals came from three different lines, and all three came at even strength. The Lightning power play went 0-for-3 in the game, yet they still outpaced the Canadiens to take a 2-0 series lead. Montreal gave the Lightning their best shot of the series, and Tampa Bay didn’t lose their poise.
What didn’t work for Montreal?
Once again, the Canadiens simply couldn’t get that one goal they needed at a critical time against the Lightning. Tampa Bay’s Ryan McDonagh took a high-sticking double-minor in the first period to give the Canadiens at 4-on-3 power play for 1:55. They were passive and over-patient and squandered the chance to take the lead.
Instead, Tampa Bay scored first, moving to 14-2 when doing so in the playoffs. The score was 2-1 for most of the third period, but for the second straight game the Canadiens couldn’t find the equalizer until the Lightning put the game away.
“I thought we played a heckuva hockey game tonight. But at the same time it wasn’t enough. We’ve got to find that extra gear,” said Canadiens winger Corey Perry.
The goals
Tampa Bay 1-0: Anthony Cirelli (Tyler Johnson, Jan Rutta) | 6:40, 2nd period
🚨 Anthony Cirelli
1-0 #GoBolts
🎥 @NHLonNBCSports pic.twitter.com/5Yoixxr2ek— Here’s Your Replay ⬇️ (@TheReplayGuy) July 1, 2021
Tyler Johnson was moved to the Lightning’s second line after an injured Alex Killorn was scratched for Game 2. He made the difference on this play, as Johnson, Cirelli and Jan Rutta cycled in the attacking zone with Montreal defensemen Jeff Petry and Jon Merrill unable to slow them. Johnson maneuvered through some defensive traffic, bounced a pass off the side boards and found Cirelli at the blue line. His shot bounced off the inside of Price’s blocker as he slow to make the save, and the Lightning had the all-important first goal against Montreal.
Montreal 1-1: Nick Suzuki (unassisted) | 10:36, 2nd period
TIE GAME!!!
🚨 NICK SUZUKI PP #GOHABSGO
1-1
🎥 @NHLonNBCSports pic.twitter.com/GJkezfShHS— Here’s Your Replay ⬇️ (@TheReplayGuy) July 1, 2021
With Mikhail Sergachev in the penalty box for interference, the Canadiens got the kind of bounce they rarely received in Game 1. Suzuki’s soft backhander deflected off of Cirelli’s stick and then glanced off of Ryan McDonagh’s stick past Vasilevskiy to tie the game.
Tampa Bay 2-1: Blake Coleman (Barclay Goodrow, Ryan McDonagh) | 19:58, 2nd period
Okay, one more look at this FANTASTIC Blake Coleman (@BColes25) buzzer beater. 🔥 #StanleyCup
🇺🇸: https://t.co/np5dchXdBh @NHLonNBCSports
🇨🇦: https://t.co/ZCJTr4QXFR @Sportsnet pic.twitter.com/wtII3WkRVX— NHL (@NHL) July 1, 2021
If you just happened to catch the end result of this incredible play — a goal being scored and a Tampa player sliding into the boards — you might have guessed it was Blake Coleman. He’s better lunging with one hand than most players are with two hands on their stick. This goal was a product of the Lightning’s checking line doing their thing: disrupting.
This play should have been safe for Montreal. Shea Weber had the puck on his stick with 8.8 seconds remaining. He passed it to the team’s best defensive forward, Phillip Danault. But Coleman bumped Danault, forcing him to the middle of the ice where Barclay Goodrow collected a turnover. Goodrow poked the puck past Ben Chiarot, swung a backhand pass through Weber with 1.7 seconds left and Coleman dove past Danault to knock the puck past Price. Goal of the playoffs, and perhaps of the entire season, by Coleman.
Incredibly, the Lightning bench was screaming for Goodrow to shoot the puck, but he thought passing it to Coleman was the more high-percentage play. “I knew that the clock was winding down. But I saw Goodie make the play and just tried to do whatever I could to give him an option. Fortunately, we beat the clock,” said Coleman.
Tampa Bay 3-1: Ondrej Palat (unassisted) | 15:42, 3rd period
0:49
Ondrej Palet finds the net after careless play from the Canadiens in a 3-1 win for Tampa Bay.
Remember in Game 1 when Carey Price was done dirty by his team with a series of unforgivable turnovers that led to Lightning goals? More of the same here. Defenseman Joel Edmundson bounced the puck off the end boards. Jeff Petry couldn’t get to it before Ondrej Palat collected the puck and popped it past an unsuspecting Price.
Quote of the night
“It’s just kind of a reflex, really. I don’t think anyone’s really planning to dive on the ice. But in that moment, it’s all we had. I don’t know why these goals happen.”
— Blake Coleman on his buzzer-beater in the second period that ended up being the game-winning goal.
Fluid check of the night
“He made me bleed my own blood, see?” pic.twitter.com/n0Yg5aOwKl
— Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) July 1, 2021
Ryan McDonagh smacked Phillip Danault across the head pretty good with his stick in the first period, sending debris flying. The referees signaled for a penalty, but the Montreal center ensured that it would be a double major by showing the referee he was cut with a glove check on his nose. The officials proceeded to give Danault a thorough nasal examination and singalled for the four-minute power play.
Refereeing of the night
📦PENALTY: #GoBolts‘ Sergachev is off for interference on #GoHabsGo‘s Lehkonen. 9:57 remains in the second period. pic.twitter.com/FJU5XX45SR
— 𝙼𝚊𝚛𝚒 𝙵𝚊𝚒𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚘 (@faiello_mari) July 1, 2021
Lightning fans didn’t like this interference call on Mikhail Sergachev against Artturi Lehkonen, who slid hard into the boards. The Montreal forward left the game after the penalty, but returned to skate in the third period. Bolts fans were also displeased with the fact that there seemed like three different non-calls during a Tampa Bay power play in the second period — the kind of officiating indifference that makes one wonder if they didn’t want to hand the potent unit a 5-on-3 in a 1-1 game.
Gallagher took Vasilevskiy’s stick pic.twitter.com/pkmEmclaFZ
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) July 1, 2021
The last time we saw Gallagher, he was bleeding profusely after attempting to take Sergachev down in Game 1, but instead hitting his own helmet-less head on the ice. In Game 2, Vasilevskiy succumbed to Gallagher’s particular brand of whimsy, giving the Canadiens winger a little shot … and Gallagher responded by ripping the goalie stick out of Vasilevskiy’s hand.
(Greased) Lightning of the night
John Travolta here tonight, tries to get the energy flowing #GoBolts #TBLightning pic.twitter.com/992BWsLtJ8
— Lightning Insider (@Erik_Erlendsson) July 1, 2021
Ladies and gentlemen, John Travolta was in the house for Game 2, and managed to stick around past what was obviously his favorite part of the game … the faceoff.
The big question for Game 3: Can the Canadiens rally at home?
Montreal returns to Bell Centre facing its largest series deficit since being down 3-1 to the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round. In a bit of a bummer, they’ll have only 3,500 fans at home when the series shifts to Montreal on Friday. The Canadiens petitioned to have 50% capacity — equating to 10,500 fans — for the next set of games, but the request was denied by the provincial government.
“Obviously, we know they’d love to be in the building. It’s just not the case with the way the world is right now,” said Canadiens center Nick Suzuki.
They’re a tremendous defensive team on home ice (2.13 goals-against average), but are going to have to do better than one goal per game against the Lightning and Vasilevskiy. And, needless to say, they’d like to score the first goal, too, as they’re 11-2 when doing so.