Lightning look to sweep way to another crown
Canadiens begin quest to become 1st since 1942 to erase 0-3 deficit in finals
It was only nine months ago when the Tampa Bay Lightning threw their gloves in the air and jumped over the bench, their triumphant yells echoing around an empty Rogers Place in Edmonton. The Lightning had just won their second championship in franchise history and their first since 2004.
Less than a year later, Tampa Bay is one win away from finishing off a sweep of the Montreal Canadiens in the Stanley Cup Final.
The Lightning have appeared to be the dominant team through three games, with Game 4 set for Monday at Bell Centre in Montreal. Tampa Bay is ready to celebrate once more.
“I know how fun it was last year when we won, so you want to do that again,” said Tyler Johnson, who scored two goals in the Lightning ’s 6-3 win in Game 3 Friday night in Montreal. “Don’t know how many chances you’re going to get. Anytime you get this close, you really feel it. I think winning last year makes you even want to win it more.”
Tampa Bay would be the second team to win consecutive titles since 1999. The Pittsburgh Pen
guins did so last in 2016 and 2017.
Only four teams in NHL history have ever come back to win a series after finding itself in a 0-3 series deficit. Toronto was the only team to do it in a finals when it beat Detroit in 1942.
If Montreal is to dig itself out of this large hole, it will need an improved game from goaltender Carey Price, a solution to a potent Lightning offense and a way to break through the tight Tampa Bay defensive strategy.
“We’ve showed that we don’t shy away from challenges,” said coach Dominique Ducharme. “And we won’t again.”
Reigning Conn Smythe winner Victor Hedman has two goals and 16 assists during the postseason. With his Friday night goals, he became the first NHL player to score a goal in all 12 calendar months.
“What we did in the bubble last year was very special and you want to relive that moment. At the end of the day, we’re not there yet, we have to win one more game, we’ve put ourselves in good position, obviously, but the fourth one is the hardest to get,” Hedman said. “We have to do whatever it takes to win the next game and think about it after. We have more work to do and we are not satisfied.”
Goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy, a favored Conn Smythe candidate
this year, has proven his worth throughout the postseason.
The Russian netminder has a 1.94 goals-against average with a .938 save percentage through 21 games. In the finals, he has allowed only five goals through three games with a .948 save percentage.
Winger Nikita Kucherov has also been stellar during the Lightning ’s finals run. He has 32 postseason points with eight goals and 24 assists. Over the past two postseasons, Kucherov has 66 points, which is tied with Wayne Gretzky (in 1985 and 1986) for the fifth most over two consecutive postseasons in NHL history.
Winger Brayden Point also leads the Lightning with 48 points, scoring 23 goals with 25 assists.