1994: The last time the CH lost a series after taking a 3-2 lead

Michaël Petit
1994: The last time the CH lost a series after taking a 3-2 lead
Credit: Mike Carlson/Getty Images

Tonight we'll find out which team—the Montreal Canadiens or the Tampa Bay Lightning—will advance to the next round.

I don't know about you, but this is incredibly exciting (and stressful). Imagine how stressed the players must be…

In a Game 7, the home team is usually favored (they win 57% of decisive home games), but don't count the Habs out just yet.

In fact, over the past 30 years, the Habs have six wins and one overtime loss in Game 7s. Six of those seven games were on the road.

Plus, it's been over 30 years since the Habs lost a series after taking a 3-2 lead.

That's what Grant McCagg reported in a recent tweet.

The Habs' main objective will be to find a way to get past Andrei Vasilevskiy, because he's excellent in the big game.

In addition to the major challenge in front of the Bolts' net, we'll obviously need to keep an eye on Brandon Hagel and even Nikita Kucherov. The latter hasn't had an exceptional playoff run (even though he's averaging a point per game), but we all know the extent of his talent and that he's capable of putting together a huge game.

However, the statistics show that the Russian has a hard time producing offensively in Game 7. In fact, he hasn't scored a single point in six decisive games in his career.

The Habs are once again being overlooked by online betting sites. For example, on Loto-Québec's Mise-o-jeu site, the odds for the Habs are 2.55 while those for the Bolts are 1.60, which is a pretty significant difference.

Yet, the Habs have proven in this series that they can win on the road in Tampa Bay, and they have the tools to win again tonight.

In addition, the Habs could very well count on Noah Dobson, who will participate in the pre-game warm-up.

His addition to the lineup would certainly be welcome, as we can expect this to be an extremely close game. Just like every other game in this series, for that matter.

In fact, for two-thirds of the time in this series, the score was tied, as Sportsnet reports.

I can't wait to see who will be the hero of this final game. My prediction? Why not Cole Caufield?


In a nutshell

– Statistics don't lie, as they say.

– Let's hope the officiating is fair for both teams.

– It's official: John Chayka will be the GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

– Interesting.

– Worth reading.

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