The Lightning win a grueling physical game and tie the series

Félix Forget
The Lightning win a grueling physical game and tie the series
Credit: DansLesCoulisses.com

After winning the first game on Sunday, the Canadiens faced the Lightning in Tampa Bay tonight for the second game of the series.

For this game, the Habs made no changes to their lineup.

Here's what the lineup looked like, as a reminder:

As for the Lightning, the team decided to bring out the heavy hitters. Charle-Édouard D'Astous (injured) and Conor Geekie were benched in favor of Declan Carlile and Scott Sabourin.

Here is the home team's full lineup:

The game started off with some physical play as both teams went at each other. But we'll get back to that.

Midway through the first period, Brandon Hagel put together a great individual effort to open the scoring. It was already his third goal of the series.

But after that, things really started to heat up. Every stoppage in play turned into an opportunity to fight… and things got out of hand more than once.

Among other things, we saw Yanni Gourde taunting Arber Xhekaj… then Corey Perry dropping the gloves against Alexandre Carrier.

All of this allowed the Habs to capitalize on their power play… and at the end of the period, it paid off.

Lane Hutson fired a rocket to tie the game.

After 20 minutes, the score was 1-1.

Early in the second period, things started heating up again. We saw Brandon Hagel and Juraj Slafkovský trading jabs after a whistle… and they eventually dropped the gloves.

Hagel sent Slaf to the ice with a solid punch… but the Slovak avoided the worst.

The physical play calmed down a bit after that, and we got to see a period finale focused more on hockey.

And that allowed Josh Anderson to score his second goal in two games.

After 40 minutes, the score was 2-1 in favor of the Habs.

The Habs held strong during the first half of the third period… but the Lightning eventually struck.

A bad turnover by Juraj Slafkovský allowed Nikita Kucherov to score his first goal in his last 17 playoff games.

Late in the game, Sabourin was called for a penalty after hitting Josh Anderson… but the Habs couldn't capitalize on the power play to score. Lane Hutson hit the post hard.

So we needed overtime.

Early in overtime, Jakub Dobes was really solid. He made some big saves to keep his team in the game.

But midway through the period, Kirby Dach was called for interference, giving the Lightning a great opportunity.

And that allowed J.J. Moser to secure the win for his team on the ensuing play.

Final score: 3-2 Tampa Bay (OT)

The series now heads to Montreal for Game 3. The game is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Friday night.


Overtime

– The Lightning's game plan tonight was clear: the team wanted to play physically and intimidate the Habs. That said, unlike last year against the Capitals, the Canadiens are capable of responding, and they proved it tonight. It didn't get them the win, but that's another story.

– Josh Anderson, just like the rest of his line, has been playing inspired hockey since the start of the playoffs. We know he's a player who's used to stepping up in big moments since arriving in Montreal, and we're seeing that again this year. He's making all the difference.

– Jakub Dobes appeared to get hurt in the second period after taking a puck to the knee, but he was able to stay in the game. Let's hope he avoided the worst.

– Jake Evans played a phenomenal game tonight. The stat sheet doesn't fully do him justice: he was exceptional defensively and in his one-on-one battles. He's truly a key part of Martin St-Louis's squad.

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