Defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning pile on against Montreal Canadiens in Game 1
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Yanni Gourde, who got the Tampa Bay Lightning into the Stanley Cup Final, also gave them a 1-0 series lead in the championship round against the Montreal Canadiens.
Gourde got his stick on a Blake Coleman shot on Monday night and deflected it past Canadiens goalie Carey Price for a 2-0 lead as the Lightning won 5-1 in Game 1 in Tampa.
Gourde scored a short-handed goal in the Lightning’s 1-0 victory in Game 7 against the New York Islanders during the semifinals.
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The Lightning also got two goals from Nikita Kucherov, and a goal apiece by Erik Cernak and Steven Stamkos.
The Lightning are looking to become the first team to repeat as champions since the 2016-17 Pittsburgh Penguins.
Though the team that wins Game 1 wins the Cup 71.5% of the time, the last four NHL champions lost Game 1.
A look at Game 1:
Rare goals
Two defensemen picked up their first career playoff goal during the game.
Lightning defenseman Erik Cernak deflected an Ondrej Palat pass past Price in the first period for a 1-0 lead.
It was his first playoff goal in 46 postseason games.
Canadiens defenseman Ben Chiarot ended an even longer playoff drought with a goal in his 52nd postseason game.
His shot deflected off two Lightning players to pull Montreal to within 2-1.
Chiarot had bad luck later when he knocked the puck past his own goalie.
It was originally credited to Palat but later awarded to Kucherov.
Lineup change
Montreal Canadiens forward Jake Evans returned to the lineup for the first time since he left the ice on a stretcher in Game 1 of the second round.
Winnipeg Jets forward Mark Scheifele was suspended four games for bowling over Evans after he scored an empty net goal. Both players missed the remainder of the Canadiens’ second-round sweep and Evans (concussion) also sat out Montreal’s third-round series against the Vegas Golden Knights.
Evans replaced Joel Armia, who cleared COVID-19 protocol and flew on a private jet to Tampa. He took part in warmups but was scratched.
Country vs. country
The 2021 Stanley Cup Final is the first between teams from the USA and Canada since the Boston Bruins defeated the Vancouver Canucks in seven games in 2011.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau challenged U.S. President Joe Biden to a friendly wager, and it was accepted.
No word on what’s at stake.
No Canadian team has won the Stanley Cup since the Canadiens defeated the Los Angeles Kings in 1993.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning pile on against Montreal Canadiens in Game 1