Heartbreaking loss for the Canadiens against the Lightning

Vincent Larue
Heartbreaking loss for the Canadiens against the Lightning
Credit: DansLesCoulisses.com

For their first game after the Christmas break, the Canadiens took on the Tampa Bay Lightning at Benchmark International Arena, in warm Florida weather.

For the Habs, there were no line-up changes. Alexandre Texier remained in the line-up, having left the last game with a head injury.

Here's the Montreal line-up with Jacob Fowler in net:

On the Lightning side, defenseman Maxim Groshev played his first NHL game due to the injury to veteran Ryan McDonagh. Brendan Hagel was back in the lineup after being injured.

Here's the Lightning lineup, with goaltender Jonas Johansson in front of the net:

In the first period, the Canadiens were clearly the more threatening team. The Habs had several chances to score, but were unable to convert them.

Arber Xhekaj and Scott Sabourin threw down the gloves late in the period and put up a furious fight.

Unfortunately for Sabourin, he received a knockout blow and went straight back to the dressing room, assisted by his teammates.

Although the Canadiens enjoyed three powerplays, the score remained tied after twenty minutes.

In the opening moments of the second period, Nikita Kucherov broke free after Ivan Demidov broke his stick, again, and scored with a well-placed shot over Fowler's pad.

This gave the Lightning a 1-0 lead.

Nearly ten minutes later, Nikita Kucherov took advantage of the fact that Fowler was completely out of his net to double his team's lead.

All this before the eyes of Juraj Slafkovsky, who let his skates drag after making a mistake.

And as if things weren't already going badly for the Habs, Nick Paul scored on a two-on-one run just as Kucherov's penalty ended.

Paul collected Oliver Bjorkstrand's return shot and tripled the home team's lead.

The score was 3-0 after the second period.

Early in the third period, Ivan Demidov sent the puck behind the Lightning goalie, who had already looked better.

Demidov accepted Juraj Slafkovsky's beautiful pass before scoring.

A few seconds later, a simple shot from Bjorkstrand was deflected by Pontus Holmberg and the Lightning regained a three-goal lead before the sighs of Martin St-Louis.

Juraj Slafkovsky showed off his offensive skills once again, scoring on a precise shot after asking Oliver Kapanen for the puck. The Canadiens showed signs of life and stayed in the game.

The gap was reduced to two goals.

Moments later, Noah Dobson unleashed a shot that found its way behind the opposing goalie.

The Canadiens continued to apply pressure, forcing the Lightning to play on their heels.

One goal separated the two teams.

Jacob Fowler returned to the bench to add a player.

Believe it or not, Juraj Slafkovsky scored with an on-ice shot off a clever pass from Ivan Demidov. There were less than four seconds left in the game.

So the game was decided in overtime.

The game went to a shootout and Brayden Point gave his team the win

Final score: 5-4 in favor of the Lightning in the shootout

The Canadiens continue their road trip against the Florida Panthers on Tuesday, December 30.


overtime

– Although he made several mistakes, what a performance from Juraj Slafkovsky, who showed all his offensive talent in this game, collecting two goals and an assist.

– Noah Dobson filled out the score sheet with a goal and an assist. He was Martin St-Louis' most-used defenseman before overtime, with 26:31 of playing time before extra time.

– Jacob Fowler got off to a rocky start with four goals in just 22 shots.

The Habs' power play was catastrophic, with no goals scored in four chances. Several broken sticks and a lack of opportunism prevented the Canadiens from filling the back of the net.

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