Game One was a special teams game, and the Canadiens ended up scoring one more power-play goal than the Lightning. That Juraj Slafkovsky overtime goal—completing a power-play hat trick—proved to be the difference in the game.
Both clubs have excellent power plays, and they had plenty of opportunities to score while on the man advantage. Ten power plays were awarded in the game, five apiece. Of the 42 total shots on goal in the game, 20 came while the teams were on the power play.
Of course, the Habs got a huge performance from Slafkovsky, who scored several big goals against the Lightning during the regular season. He’s got a terrific shot, and he blasted two one-timers from prime scoring areas for each of his first two goals. The overtime winner came on a wrist shot from the left circle—he snapped the shot into the upper corner on the far side.
The Lightning’s power play also produced several excellent chances and twice converted. Darren Raddysh’s left-circle one-timer tied the game at one in the second period, and Brandon Hagel’s redirection goal from the top of the crease evened the score at three in the third period.
There were fewer scoring chances when the game was at even strength. Both clubs checked tightly and limited opposition space. Still, the goalies made some difficult saves during five-on-five action through regulation, and each side only managed to score one even-strength goal. Both came off plays from behind the other team’s net. Alexander Carrier forced the puck in front to Josh Anderson for a point-blank chance at 13:24 of the first. Jake Guentzel jabbed the puck to Hagel at the side of the net, and Hagel finished a backhander just 29 seconds after the Raddysh power-play goal.
The Lightning had to play the second half of the game without Charle-Edouard D’Astous, who was injured after absorbing a check from Anderson. Anderson was called for a penalty on the play (reduced from a major to a minor after a review), and Raddysh scored on the ensuing power play. But D’Astous was unable to return.
Unfortunately, two trends continued for the Lightning. They fell to 1-10 in their last 11 home playoff games and 1-12 in the previous 13 overtime playoff games. Moving forward in the series, they’ll need to solve their penalty kill issues, but much of their five-on-five game was solid. They held the Canadiens to just nine even-strength shots in the game. They’ll look to build on the positives they can take out of Game One when they play Game Two on Tuesday.
Lightning Radio Three Stars of the Game (as selected by Phil Esposito):
- Juraj Slafkovsky — Canadiens. Hat trick. OT GWG.
- Nick Suzuki — Canadiens. Two assists. 15-6 on faceoffs.
- Jake Guentzel — Lightning. Three assists.
