After just over 69 scoreless minutes of nerve-racking, edge-of-your-seat action, the Lightning netted the overtime winner to extend this series to a seventh and deciding game on Sunday in Tampa.
Game Six was the lowest-scoring game in the series, but it featured the most scoring chances. Both Andrei Vasilevskiy and Jakub Dobes delivered outstanding performances to keep the game at 0-0 through regulation and nine more minutes of overtime.
The Lightning played with higher urgency than they showed for much of Game Five. The Habs also brought a high compete, making Game Six an evenly-matched, intense battle.
The Lightning had a shooting mentality throughout the night, finishing with 90 attempts. But as they’ve done throughout the series (and in the regular season too), the Canadiens got in the shooting lanes. Fifty-seven of those 90 attempts either missed the net or got blocked. But more than they’d done in other games, the Lightning created scramble plays and chaos around the Montreal net. Until the overtime winner, however, they couldn’t manage a clean attempt on a loose puck in the crease. Several close calls yielded nothing, including a Corey Perry rebound attempt that was about to cross the line before Phillip Danault swept it away.
Montreal’s best looks—in addition to some chances on three unsuccessful power plays—came off the rush. Just as the Lightning created more scramble plays than in the earlier five games, the Habs generated more odd-man looks. Vasilevskiy stopped all of them that were on net.
The referees let a lot go in Game Six, but they still called six penalties leading to power plays (three for each side). During a Montreal power play late in the second period, Vasilevskiy made two crucial saves in succession on Ivan Demidov. The second of those came when Demidov appeared to have an open net. The Lightning got through an overtime penalty kill as well to preserve the game and their season.
Two of the Lightning’s three power plays came in the third period. On the first of those, both Nikita Kucherov and Jake Guentzel hit the post. On the second, which occurred with just 3:18 left in regulation, they kept the puck in the offensive zone for most of the two minutes and posted 11 shot attempts.
Just before the winning goal, the Lightning dumped the puck into the corner of the Montreal end. Emil Lilleberg jumped up in the play to grab it. He took it deep behind the net before losing the puck to Kaiden Guhle. Guhle bumped the puck to the corner for Zach Bolduc. But Dominic James disrupted Bolduc’s clearing attempt. Brandon Hagel, who had just come off the Lightning bench, held the puck in at the right point. He made a stickhandling move around Kirby Dach and stepped towards the high slot. Both Bolduc and Arber Xhekaj skated at Hagel, moving up the zone and taking themselves slightly out of position. Hagel slipped a pass to James, who was stationed at the right circle. At the same time, Gage Goncalves gained position in front of the net on Guhle. With Bolduc and Xhekaj on the wrong side of the puck, James had a passing lane to feed Goncalves. Dobes made an initial save on Goncalves’ first point-blank attempt, but the puck caromed back to Goncalves’ stick. With an open net in front of him, he swept it in to win the game at 9:03.
All six games have been decided by a single goal. Four have gone to overtime. It seems fitting that this razor-tight series will go the distance.
Lightning Radio Three Stars of the Game:
- Andrei Vasilevskiy — Lightning. 30-save shutout.
- Jakub Dobes — Canadiens. 32 saves.
- Gage Goncalves — Lightning. GWG in OT.
