Bruins vs Red Wings

MONTREAL -- The Montreal Canadiens are down 1-0 in their best-of-7 Eastern Conference Second Round series against the Tampa Bay Lightning, but Montreal defenseman P.K. Subban said he likes what he saw.

The Canadiens lost Game 1, 2-1 in double overtime at Bell Centre on Friday. They outshot the Lightning 44-35, created ample opportunities to win in the first overtime with 13 shots, but couldn't beat Tampa Bay goaltender Ben Bishop.

"This is probably one of the best games we played all year," Subban said. "I thought we did a good job moving the puck out of our zone, defending. I thought we limited their opportunities to carry the puck through the neutral zone with speed. We did a lot of good things today, except win the game.

"That's the difference in the [Stanley Cup Playoffs]. For us right now, if we play that way for the rest of the playoffs, for the rest of the series, I think we're going to be in a good spot."

Goaltending plays an integral part in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. NHL.com decided to break down the Eastern Conference Second Round matchup between Carey Price of the Montreal Canadiens and Ben Bishop of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Much like many goaltending coaches will do before a playoff series, NHL.com correspondent Kevin Woodley, the managing editor of InGoal Magazine, charted every goal scored against each goalie in this matchup this season with the help of a program from Double Blue Sport Analytics. The graphics showing where goals went in and shots were taken from on the ice are nice, but the real value is tracking and analyzing the types of plays that led to them, and whether they reveal strengths, weaknesses and tendencies that can be targeted.

TAMPA -- Tampa Bay Lightning goalie Ben Bishop was "the other guy" in the first six games of the Eastern Conference First Round. He wasn't great, but he didn't play poorly either.

Detroit Red Wings goalie Petr Mrazek was receiving all the accolades. Whether it was his 44 saves in Game 1 or shutouts in Game 3 and Game 5, the 23-year-old Stanley Cup Playoff rookie was starring as the series reached Game 7 at Amalie Arena on Wednesday.

But Bishop made 31 saves for his first NHL playoff shutout, and the Lightning eliminated the Red Wings with a 2-0 win.

"He stepped up like the player that he is," Lightning forward Brian Boyle said. "He's always been our top guy back there, our No. 1 penalty-killer. He's been as good as anyone."

BROSSARD, Quebec -- The Montreal Canadiens had a team dinner Wednesday and sat down to watch and see who they would face in the Eastern Conference Second Round.

Montreal's players and coaches wined, dined and watched Game 7 of the first-round series between the Detroit Red Wings and the Tampa Bay Lightning after hitting the ice for the first time since closing their first-round series against the Ottawa Senators with a win in Game 6 on Sunday.

When all was said and done, the Canadiens learned they will host Tampa Bay in Game 1 at Bell Centre on Friday (7 p.m .ET; CBC, TVA Sports, NBCSN).

"That's going to be a huge challenge," Montreal coach Michel Therrien said after practice Thursday. "[Tampa Bay] is the best offensive team in the League and they proved it. They've got a lot of weapons offensively and they've got tremendous speed. We take a lot of pride about making sure that we're solid defensively, that we're taking speed away, and this is something for us we're going to have to focus on. We've got to make sure we play a really sound defensive game."

The Tampa Bay Lightning would like nothing more than to carry their regular-season domination of the Montreal Canadiens through the Eastern Conference Second Round.

The Lightning went 5-0-0 against the Canadiens this season, outscoring them 21-8. That included victories in three games at Bell Centre, where the Lightning have won their past five regular-season visits.

But the perfect regular-season record in 2014-15 didn't do much to ease the Lightning's disappointment from last year's Stanley Cup Playoffs, when Montreal swept Tampa Bay in the first round, averaging four goals per game. All four wins came with Tampa Bay starting goaltender Ben Bishop sidelined because of injury.

Bishop was in goal for each of the five wins against Montreal this season and outplayed Hart Trophy finalist Carey Price, who lost all five. The inability to beat Tampa Bay was one of the few blemishes in a brilliant season for Price, who was the major reason Montreal allowed fewer non-shootout goals than any NHL team.

While the Canadiens were winning 50 games by preventing opponents from scoring, the Lightning won 50 by leading the League with 259 non-shootout goals. Each team lost 32 times, but the Canadiens had two fewer regulation defeats, enabling them to finish with 110 points to the Lightning's 108 and earn the home-ice advantage in this series.

BROSSARD, Quebec -- P.K. Subban's father is living out a dream with every bit of recognition his famous son receives, including the Montreal Canadiens defenseman's second nomination for the Norris Trophy as the NHL's top defenseman.

Subban, who won the Norris in 2012-13, was named a finalist Monday with Ottawa Senators captain Erik Karlsson and Drew Doughty of the Los Angeles Kings.

Subban was two wins short of reaching the Stanley Cup Final last year, and he and his Montreal teammates, including Vezina and Hart trophy nominee Carey Price, again have their sights set on winning the League's biggest trophy.

"It's always great when you get recognized individually, but we've got a lot of players on our team that have had great seasons individually this year," Subban said after practice Wednesday. "When you have a bunch of guys that can put together good seasons, usually the team success is doing well also. But when you look around the League, there's a lot of players who are top of the League in scoring or having great individual years but their teams aren't in the playoffs or doing that well in the standings."

BROSSARD, Quebec -- Montreal Canadiens defenseman Nathan Beaulieu will miss at least the first four games of their Eastern Conference Second Round series.

Montreal general manager Marc Bergevin made the announcement after practice Wednesday as the Canadiens prepare for Game 1 on Friday, when they will host the winner of first-round series between the Detroit Red Wings and the Tampa Bay Lightning. Game 7 of that series is Wednesday (7:30 p.m. ET; CBC, NBCSN, TVA Sports 2, FS-D, SUN).

Beaulieu missed the final three games of Montreal's six-game first round win against the Ottawa Senators because of an upper-body injury sustained in the second period of Game 3.