Lightning vs Canadiens

BROSSARD, Quebec -- Three years ago, the sixth-seeded Montreal Canadiens came home with a 2-0 series lead against the Boston Bruins in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. Bell Centre was rocking when the Canadiens and Bruins took the ice for Game 3.

But instead of riding the momentum of winning the first two games of the series on the road, the Canadiens lost Game 3, 4-2, and Game 4, 5-4 in overtime. Boston won two of the final three games to advance, and Montreal was left wondering what happened to the "commanding" 2-0 series lead they had.

The Canadiens now have plenty of different players on their roster and a different coach. But for those who remain, it was a valuable lesson that can be applied to Games 3 and 4 of their 2014 Eastern Conference First Round series with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Montreal leads the best-of-7 series after winning the first two games in Tampa Bay, including 4-1 on Friday. Game 3 is Sunday (7 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, RDS, SUN).

"It's big, it's huge, but at the end of the day, we fell into that trap against Boston a few years back," Canadiens captain Brian Gionta said Saturday. "We won two games in their building and we came back and let off the gas a bit. So we need to make sure that tomorrow night is our focus and we have to do the things that have made us successful in the first two games and make sure we stick with that."

TAMPA -- The Tampa Bay Lightning are hoping to have rookie forward Ondrej Palat back in the lineup when they play the Montreal Canadiens in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference First Round series Sunday (7 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, RDS, SUN).

The Canadiens lead the best-of-7 series 2-0 with the scene shifting to Montreal.

Palat skated for about 45 minutes with the scratched Lightning players and forward Cedric Paquette and goaltender Kristers Gudlevskis.

“I felt good today, I had a good practice,” Palat said. “It’s going to be a game-time decision tomorrow.”

TAMPA -- After two losses at home and with their next two games to be played in front of one of the NHL's most raucous crowds, the Tampa Bay Lightning have their work cut out for them.

"We've got nothing to lose right now, We're down 2-0 and we're going into a hostile environment," captain Steven Stamkos said Friday night after a 4-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference First Round series. "We have to play better."

The Lightning are looking for answers as they head to Bell Centre in Montreal for Game 3 on Sunday night (7 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, RDS, SUN). Finding them doesn't figure to be easy.

TAMPA -- One of the biggest reasons NHL teams rely so much on video is that it unmasks all bias. What you see on video is what you get, and Tampa Bay Lightning coach Jon Cooper did not like what he saw.

Cooper walked into his postgame press conference after his Lightning lost 5-4 in overtime to the Montreal Canadiens in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference First Round series on Wednesday and said he felt his team didn't play that badly. In spite of the Lightning being outshot 44-25, Cooper wondered if the disparity in scoring chances was anywhere near as dramatic, guessing it wasn't.

Cooper walked into his press conference after practice Thursday and had an entirely different view of the game. He explained that sometimes he can feel his team played poorly during a loss but afterwards on video he'll see a lot of the positives that he missed live come to light.

TAMPA -- The Tampa Bay Lightning had an enormous amount of trouble getting out of their own zone cleanly in the 5-4 overtime loss in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference First Round Series against the Montreal Canadiens.

If they want to tie the series in Game 2 on Friday, longtime NHL assistant coach Kevin McCarthy believes the Lightning will need to find a way overcome what he felt was a tremendous Canadiens forecheck in Game 1.

TAMPA -- Daniel Briere did it again.

One of the top Stanley Cup Playoff performers of his generation, Briere was a constant threat in his first postseason game in a Montreal Canadiens uniform and set up an overtime goal by Dale Weise in a 5-4 victory against the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference First Round Series on Wednesday night.

The assist gave Briere 110 points in 109 career playoff games.

"I thought I had some chances where I could've closed the game," Briere said. "So you just have to stay focused. I had the feeling that something good was going to happen. Our line had too many scoring chances that at some point we were going to get a good result."

TAMPA -- Tampa Bay Lightning rookie forward Ondrej Palat left Game 1 of the Eastern Conference First Round series against the Montreal Canadiens with an upper-body injury and did not return.

Palat played one shift to begin the third period before leaving with the score tied 2-2.

The Canadiens won the game 5-4 in overtime.

Palat missed the final game of the Lightning's regular season Sunday with an injury after putting together one of the best seasons of any first-year player in the NHL with 23 goals, 36 assists and a team-leading plus-32 rating in 81 games.

TAMPA -- Alex Killorn nearly helped the Tampa Bay Lightning steal Game 1 of their Eastern Conference First Round series against the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.

Killorn, playing in his first career Stanley Cup Playoff game, scored at 7:11 of the third period to even the score 3-3. Later in the third, he carried the puck down the left side of the ice into the Montreal zone before feathering a precise pass across the ice to Steven Stamkos, who tapped in his second goal of the game to even the score again at 4-4.

Montreal, which outshot Tampa Bay 44-25, won the game 5-4 in overtime on Dale Weise's first career playoff goal. Game 2 will be played Friday (7 p.m. ET; CBC, RDS, CNBC, FS-F) at Tampa Bay Times Forum.