The 2025-26 Tampa Bay Lightning season came to an end on Sunday.
The Lightning fell 2-1 to the Montreal Canadiens in Game 7 of their first round series.
Montreal scored to make it 1-0 late in the first period when a Nick Suzuki redirection that was heading wide of the net bounced into the net off of a Lightning defender’s shinpad.
Tampa Bay rookie Dominic James then tied the game with 6:33 to play in the second period on a tipped point shot during a power play.
Montreal got the 2-1 goal on a midair whack at the goal line in the third period for the winner.
Scoring Summary
First period
MTL 1, TBL 0
18:39 Nick Suzuki (1) - Kaiden Guhle, Josh Anderson
Montreal got a lucky bounce to take the first lead of the night when a redirection by Nick Suzuki bounced off the leg of a Lightning defender and into the net late in the first period.
Shots on goal: TBL 9, MTL 4
Second period
MTL 1, TBL 1
13:27 Dominic James (2) - Charle-Edouard D’Astous, Gage Goncalves - PP
The Lightning tied the game on the power play with a Dominic James tip in front of the Montreal net following Charle-Edouard D’Astous’ shot from the point.
Shots on goal: TBL 12, MTL 0
Third period
MTL 2, TBL 1
11:07 Alex Newhook (1) - Lane Hutson, Guhle
Montreal regained their advantage in the 11th minute of the third period. Forward Alex Newhook batted a puck out of midair below the goal line, and the puck bounced in for a 2-1 score.
Total shots: TBL 29, MTL 9
