The Canadian was officially eliminated from the NHL playoff race on Thursday, but head coach Martin St-Louis hopes that he will be remembered above all for the progress shown by the team this season.
Nic Paul scored two goals, Steven Stamkos had two goals and an assist and Nikita Kucherov, one goal and two assists, and the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Montreal hockey club 7-4 at the Bell Centre.
The jumps went in favor of the visitors, and they were numerous. The Canadian also had difficulty containing the Lightning stars, who scored four times in the second period.
“We shot ourselves in the foot a lot in the second period,” said St-Louis. It was one of our worst periods of the season. It’s rare that we play like this. I liked how we fought in the third, but the damage was done. »
Juraj Slafkovsky and Cole Caufield scored in the third period to make the end of the game interesting.
Joel Armia also scored twice for the Canadian (29-34-12), each time with assists from Brendan Gallagher and Alex Newhook. Cayden Primeau stopped 28 shots.
Michael Eyssimont also had a goal and an assist for the Lightning (43-26-7), while Brandon Hagel also hit the target. Brayden Point and Anthony Cirelli each had two assists. Matt Tomkins stopped 26 shots.
The Habs are eliminated from the race due to the fact that the Washington Capitals will face the Detroit Red Wings by the end of the season and that one of the two teams is therefore guaranteed to amass at least 84 points. These two teams also have the advantage over the Habs in the tiebreaker.
“It’s not a funeral, but a celebration of life,” said St-Louis. It’s a shame and it’s normal, but there is so much positive in this season – in the way we did things, our progress. We want to finish the season with this state of mind. »
The Canadian lost the services of defender Kaiden Guhle early in the first period. He was the victim of a check from behind by Kucherov.
Guhle remained lying on the ice for a few seconds before retreating towards the locker room and his mouth seemed cut. The Canadian simply indicated that he was suffering from an upper body injury.
Kucherov was not punished in the sequence.
For the Lightning, Hagel retired prematurely to the locker room in the third period, when he was pushed in quick succession by Arber Xhekaj and, unintentionally, by Stamkos.
The Canadian will be in action again at the Bell Center on Saturday, when the Toronto Maple Leafs are the visitors. The Habs will then play Sunday in New York, against the Rangers.
CH in the storm
The match started well for the Canadian, who took the lead after just 2:37 of play. Armia hit the mark by hitting the puck in flight on a return after a shot from Gallagher.
The tide turned before the end of the first twenty. Paul tied the game on the power play at 9:45. He took advantage of a return after a throw from Point.
The Lightning took a 2-1 lead with 3:34 left in the first period. Eyssimont got around defender Jayden Struble and his shot was partially blocked by Primeau, before leaping into the air and ending up behind the goal line.
The Canadian responded 4:42 into the second period. Armia received a pass from Newhook in the faceoff circle to Tomkins’ left. He beat the visiting goalkeeper with a low shot from the side of the shield.
Armia thus equaled his personal high with his 16th goal of the season.
The rest of the period was down to the Lightning, who had a 20-6 advantage in shots on goal and scored four times.
A bad change from the Habs allowed Stamkos to complete a nice passing play at 7:58.
A pass from Rafaël Harvey-Pinard coming out of the zone hit Eyssimont’s skate, leading to Paul’s second goal at 9:12.
Hagel made it 5-2 in favor of the Lightning at 13:18, shortly after the end of a power play by the visitors. His slap shot hit Primeau in the right shoulder, but nevertheless ended up in the goal.
Kucherov capped the Lightning’s four-goal surge by scoring on the power play on a one-timer at 17:45, despite being left alone on the right wing.
“It’s an opportunistic team,” said Canadian defenseman David Savard. You also have to see the positive. We are able to compete with everyone at five on five when we play our game. Tonight, we didn’t give ourselves the chance to do that in the second period by taking penalties or making bad plays. »
Hagel could have added a fifth goal in the period when he escaped moments later. Primeau, however, made the save.
Slafkovsky scored when he deflected an Arber Xhekaj shot past Tomkins at 8:40 of the final period. Then, Caufield cut the lead to two goals on a pass from Nick Suzuki with 8:09 remaining.
Tomkins, however, did what was necessary afterwards for the Lightning to win. Stamkos completed the scoring into an empty net with 54 seconds left.