Canadiens vs. Lightning recap: What you need to know about Game 3
Here is everything you need to know about the Tampa Bay Lightning's Game 3 win on Wednesday night.
By
Adam Gretz
•
2 min read
Every night during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Eye On Hockey writers Adam Gretz and Chris Peters will bring you up to speed everything you need to know about all of the action around the NHL. Here's what you need to know about Lightning vs. Canadiens, Game 3.
Montreal Canadiens at Tampa Bay Lightning, Game 3
Lightning 2, Canadiens 1 | Lightning lead series 3-0| Game 4, Thursday
Game 3 in a nutshell: The Tampa Bay Lightning played what was not only their worst game of the series, they might have played their worst game of the playoffs.
And they still won!
Montreal was clearly the more desperate team Wednesday and spent most of the night in the Tampa Bay end of the ice, holding the Lightning to just 19 shots on goal and only nine through the first two periods. Unfortunately for the Canadiens, they were unable to do anything with that additional zone time. The Lightning, meanwhile, still managed to get two shots behind Carey Price, including Tyler Johnson's buzzer-beating goal with one second to play in regulation, while Ben Bishop was a wall at the other end of the ice. The Lightning can finish the series Thursday.
Turning point: Pretty much the final two minutes of regulation, right up until Johnson's goal just before the buzzer. It was the most sustained pressure the Lightning had all night and it finally resulted in the winning goal.
Three things we learned
1. Tyler Johnson scored the big goal, but Ben Bishop was the hero for Tampa Bay in Game 3. Without Bishop stopping 30 of the 31 shots he faced Johnson never gets an opportunity to win the game late in the third period. You know what? Maybe Bishop would have made a difference in last year's series between these two teams.
2. Speaking of Johnson, he has to be one of the front runners for the Conn Smythe Trophy at this point. His eight goals are two more than any other player in the postseason (though Corey Perry has six in three fewer games) and he has been as consistent as a player can possibly be when it comes to postseason scoring, scoring a goal every other game so far.
3. The Canadiens still can't beat the Lightning. Tampa Bay is now 8-0 against Montreal this season and owns a 29-12 goal differential in the season series. The Canadiens were actually really good Wednesday night and probably deserved a better result. But it just does not look like it is going to be their year. Montreal now needs to win four games in a row to advance. Only four teams in NHL history have overcome a 3-0 series deficit to win a series.
Video of the game: What else is it going to be? Tyler Johnson at the buzzer.
And your bonus GIF of the game: Carey Price ignoring a dancing astronaut.
