The Tampa Bay Lightning were able to overcome a pair of one-goal deficits on Wednesday night at Benchmark International Arena in Game 5 of their Stanley Cup Playoffs First Round matchup with the Montreal Canadiens.
They couldn’t do it three times in what finished as a 3-2 loss and a 3-2 Montreal advantage in the series.
"Did I think we had our best game? We clearly did not. Is it really disappointing to come home and lose? It is,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “This is something we should take a ton of pride in and dig our heels in and not accept. Now, listen, we had some chances to tie it, and we hit some posts...."But I thought we gave ourselves chances to score. We just didn't. Can we do some things better? There's no question, but the fact we kept going down, we had to keep chasing the game. That's not a recipe for success.”
Tampa Bay came back to tie the game twice, erasing deficits of 1-0 and 2-1, before the Canadiens scored in the third period and never relinquished the advantage.
Montreal forward Brendan Gallagher jumped into his first game of the series with some offense, starting the scoring on a rebound chance three minutes after the opening puck drop.
"It was what, the fourth shift of the game? Can't sit here and say it was a tough bounce, we just sat there and watched, got beat to the net, and it's 1-0,” Cooper said. "It’s a tough way to start, there's no doubt. But by no means is that the game, but especially in these tight-checking, low-scoring games, you can't be giving freebies. And I thought we gave up a freebie there."
Tampa Bay got the answer from one of the youngest players on the roster just before the seventh minute of the second period—forward Dominic James’ shot from the right faceoff circle on a 2-on-1 rush evaded Canadiens goalie Jakub Dobes for the tying goal 6:49 into the frame.
“You dream about it, right,” James said of his first career playoff goal. "It's just so tough that they scored the shift after and we were out there, so it kind of rains on the parade a little bit. But it's obviously good for personal confidence and I need to do a lot more of that."
Montreal needed only 11 seconds to reclaim the lead, this goal coming on a Kirby Dach second chance after he drove to the net and the loose puck bounced off his skate and to his tape for the 2-1 score.
"The margin's so small,” forward Corey Perry said of trailing early. “You've got two teams that are equal. When you're fighting from behind early, it's a tough game because you're always chasing.”
Another rush chance for the Lightning evened the score through 40 minutes.
Montreal skated down the ice with a 5-on-2 look following a Lightning line change, but the Canadiens shot the puck over the net, and it rimmed to an open Jake Guentzel.
Guentzel sped down the ice alongside Oliver Bjorkstrand on another 2-on-1 rush, and the former slipped his shot from the right circle through the legpads of Dobes with 2:37 left in the period for the tying goal.
The Canadiens had the final say on the scoresheet 66 seconds into the third period, catching the Lightning in the middle of a line change and scoring on an Alexandre Texier shot from the left circle on the glove side. Tampa Bay hit the post a few times, and the puck rolled through one clean chance near the net for Nikita Kucherov.
“You're down, and you need to get one, and they defended well,” Brayden Point said. “And we just couldn't get the one to tie it up. It's important in these games to get out to a good start and try to get that lead.”
Guentzel and James had the goals for Tampa Bay, which also got assists from Yanni Gourde and Gage Goncalves on the James tally. Goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy made 21 saves as Tampa Bay outshot the Canadiens 40 to 24.
The series shifts back to the Bell Centre in time for Friday’s 7 p.m. puck drop as Tampa Bay seeks a win that would prolong their season and force a penultimate Game 7 this weekend.
"You always say there's no momentum game to game. So you put it behind you and you start fresh,” Perry said. "It's a new game, new city. This is when your backs are against the wall. This is when you've got to push and really see what you're made of."
Benjamin’s Three Stars:
1. Alexandre Texier, MTL (Game-winning goal)
2. Dominic James, TBL (Goal)
3. Jakub Dobes, MTL (38 SVs)
