Sometimes, a team plays well enough to win but doesn’t. Unfortunately for the Lightning, that’s what happened to them in Game Seven.
For much of the night, the Lightning carried play against Montreal. They owned more possession, shots, shot attempts, and scoring chances. They held the Canadiens without a shot on goal in the second period (and only five total attempts). The Canadiens posted only nine shots on net for the entire game.
At the other end, the Lightning created enough scoring chances to finish with more than one goal. But Jakub Dobes made key saves on some of the Lightning’s best looks. The only shot that beat him was a Dominic James tip during a second-period Lightning power play.
It’s often said that a playoff game—or playoff series—may be won with “greasy” goals. A fortuitous bounce or carom may tip the balance. Both Montreal tallies came off such plays. While it’s true that Nick Suzuki’s first-period tip was intended to go on net, it was heading wide until it hit J.J. Moser and banked in. And Alex Newhook made a nice play to bat a puck out of midair. But he caught a break when it hit Andrei Vasilevskiy in the pad, then bounced off the goalie’s body before entering the net.
Many Lightning players called it their best game in the series. But as Jon Cooper said afterwards, they won the game but lost the scoreboard. And the scoreboard was all that mattered.
Congratulations to the Canadiens for the victory. This series was one of the closest in NHL playoff history and provided exciting moments for the fan bases of both teams. But in the immediate aftermath of this defeat, that provides little solace for the Lightning, who failed to reach the second round for the fourth consecutive season.
Lightning Radio Three Stars of the Game (as selected by Phil Esposito):
- Jakub Dobes — Canadiens. 32 saves.
- Dominic James — Lightning. PPG.
- Gage Goncalves — Lightning. Assist.
