About Last Night: Habs can hold their heads high in Final loss
Habs #Habs
It was not meant to be. After a thrilling playoff run that captivated a city for months, the Montreal Canadiens season came to an end with a 1-0 Game 5 loss to the now back-to-back Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning. University of Vermont alum Ross Colton scored Wednesday night’s lone goal to secure the second Lightning cup in as many seasons. Goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy was named the Conn Smythe Trophy winner as top playoff performer.
After avoiding the sweep and forcing a fifth game with a win on Monday, the Canadiens came into Game 5 with a clear directive to score the first goal. Instead, the Habs were outshot 13-4 in the opening frame, and while they avoided high-danger chances, they had a tough time drumming up opportunities of their own. There were a number of penalties in the first, which halted momentum for both sides as the power play units struggled all around. Corey Perry and Jan Rutta took minors early. Perry and Erik Cernak then took matching minors before Josh Anderson had to take a penalty to prevent a Blake Coleman breakaway. Anderson continued to express his frustration with the call after leaving the box, but it also fuelled him to finish a check on Victor Hedman with vigour. Period 1 ended goalless, but with many hits. Including some borderline ones …
There were two unproductive Canadiens power plays to open the second period. On the second man-advantage after Mikhail Sergachev slammed Nick Suzuki to the ice, Cole Caufield had the Habs’ best chance when he rang a tough angle shot off the crossbar. After four shots in the first, the Canadiens adopted a fire-at-will approach. Once the Sergachev penalty expired, it was Colton who opened scoring for Tampa Bay. Ryan McDonagh found defensive partner David Savard streaking to the net. Savard took the pass and fed Colton, who was standing in front. Colton needed only a sure-handed tip-in to beat Carey Price to make it 1-0, which is how the period ended.
The Lightning entered Game 5 with a 15-2 record in these playoffs when up after two periods. They also started Period 3 with a minute left on a Ben Chiarot penalty. Tampa had their best chance to extend their lead when Nikita Kucherov missed his initial backdoor redirect (a carbon copy of Game 4’s post), took the puck around the net and found Ondrej Palat on the doorstep. Only a Price toe save kept his team within a goal.
At the other end, Anderson was sprung on a break at full speed. Vasilevskiy made the save on Anderson’s shot, and the forward ended the sequence by sliding into the post back-first with force. He went to the dressing room, but quickly returned for the final push.
With time winding down, the Lightning players spared no expense to preserve the lead. Barclay Goodrow blocked a Shea Weber point shot and needed help from linemate Yanni Gourde to return to the bench, while McDonagh made a similarly selfless block late. Habs coach Dominique Ducharme called a timeout with 1:24 remaining following a Tampa icing to strategize, but with the ice beaten down from a long game, the Habs struggled to corral the puck in Tampa’s zone and couldn’t get the shot they needed to tie it up. One goal was all the Lightning needed to win their second consecutive Cup.
But let’s hear it for the Habs, who put up a fight against a potential dynasty. Just scratching the surface of likely injuries they accrued: Jeff Petry’s fingers, Shea Weber’s thumb, Tyler Toffoli’s groin, Brendan Gallagher’s everything.
Of course, the game recognized game in the handshake line:
The Liveblog commenters remained loyal to the end (even the haters, who continued to hate). Here’s how they felt about the Canadiens run and Cup Final appearance: