Tonight, the Canadiens’ fans were watching what was happening at Madison Square Garden, as the Rangers hosted the Lightning.
That being said, the Rangers didn’t have the energy of desperation in the first period, and the Lightning took advantage of it…
Nikita Kucherov, Yanni Gourde, and Brayden Point all scored… and after 20 minutes, the Lightning had a 3-0 lead. And, by doing so, it felt more like playoffs in Montreal than ever.
The power play is buzzin’
pic.twitter.com/1IEsdsIhBE
— x – Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) April 7, 2025
Oh my Gourde, we missed this pic.twitter.com/QNL8cm6bn5
— x – Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) April 7, 2025
40th goal of the season for Mr. Brayden Point
pic.twitter.com/dD0dUYTrq2
— x – Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) April 7, 2025
In the second period, the Rangers bombarded the Lightning’s net (18 shots against only five for Tampa Bay)… but they were only able to score one goal.
Mika with a redirection in front. pic.twitter.com/tjewr1VzRY
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) April 8, 2025
That being said, the story of the match was the brilliant performance of Andrei Vasilevskiy. The Lightning’s goalkeeper was on fire… and he made 39 saves to help the Lightning win.
Brayden Point added a fourth goal in the late third period with a powerplay goal… and Brandon Hagel completed the scoring in an empty net. The Lightning won 5-1.
Jake Guentzel finds Brayden Point for Point’s 41st goal of the year, 4-1 Lightning!#GoBolts pic.twitter.com/GV141Kgdz2
— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) April 8, 2025
Note that Alexis Lafreniere received a 10-minute misconduct penalty in the first period. He apparently made a comment to a referee that did not please the latter… and he was punished.
Yes, there is frustration among the Rangers right now… and the loss tonight, which pretty much nails the team’s coffin, won’t help.
Alexis Lafreniere receives a 10 minute misconduct after saying something to an official
pic.twitter.com/skFfL12Fzw
— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) April 7, 2025
Overtime
With the Lightning’s win, the Canadiens maintain a six-point lead over their closest pursuers in the playoff race in the East. The Red Wings have a game in hand over the Habs… but unlike the Rangers, they don’t have the tiebreaker over the Habs.
At this point, it would take a real catastrophe for the Habs not to make the playoffs. If they win against the Red Wings in regulation time tomorrow, it won’t be official… but it will be really close.
The question now is which Habs team will show up in the playoffs. We know the team is functioning in sequences this season (they’ve added four wins since the publication of this graph)… and we hope it’s this Habs team that we’ll see in the playoffs (assuming they avoid catastrophe in the next 10 days, of course).
On ne veut pas « jinx », mais le CH se dirige vers une bonne séquence…
@Antichambre pic.twitter.com/qRuAS7WnN1
— RDS (@RDSca) April 1, 2025
The playoff race in the East is becoming quickly uneventful… and with the same scenario happening in the West (the Blues have won 12 straight games), it won’t be as exciting a finish to the schedule as last year in the Bettman circuit.
