Gallagher returns with signature performance to spark Canadiens to Game 5 win

TAMPA -- Brendan Gallagher Hockey 101.

As Montreal Canadiens forward Kirby Dach describes it, it involves being mugged in front of the opposing net.

It means emerging from a scrum with a gash on your face, your helmet somehow ending up in the corner as part of the melee and your hair messed up every which way, all the while wearing a fiendish grin that drives opponents crazy.

And, every now and then, it’s capped off by the type of timely goal that ignites a surge of energy throughout the entire Montreal Canadiens bench.

On Wednesday night, in front of 19,092 blue-clad Tampa Bay Lightning fans at Benchmark International Arena, Gallagher checked off every one of those boxes.

As such, the 33-year-old forward proved to be the spark Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis was looking for, one that helped Montreal defeat the Lightning 3-2 in Game 5 of their Eastern Conference First Round series. 

“I’m really happy how he handled things,” St. Louis said afterward. “And not surprised how he did tonight.”

Neither were his fellow Canadiens, who were heard serenading his name in the dressing room minutes after the gutty victory that gave Montreal a 3-2 lead in the best-of-7 series.

Because they understood the emotional roller coaster Gallagher had went through to get to this point.

Through the first four games of this series, he’d been a healthy scratch, a blow to the pride of the longest serving Canadien, who has spent his entire 14-year career in Montreal bleu-blanc-rouge. Yet, as St. Louis has repeatedly pointed out earlier in the series, he was always upbeat, always offering encouragement, always answering questions from the younger players.

Finally, the coach decided it was time, in Dach’s words, for “Brendan Gallagher Hockey 101.”

It was a decision that paid instant dividends.

Exactly three minutes into the game, to be precise.

On that, his first shift of his first game of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Gallagher did what he always does: Go directly to the greasy area in front of the net. And when teammate Alex Newhook’s scoring attempt from in tight resulted in a juicy rebound at the edge of the crease, he drained it past Tampa Bay goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy to put the visitors up 1-0.

It set the tone in a game that the Canadiens would never trail in.

“I was happy that he was able to give us an early lead, you know,” St. Louis said. “And you know where he’s going to go. He's going to go right to the area where he scored that goal. That’s where he’s going to go. And I think it came at a time in the series where I think we needed a little more of that.”

Consider this, too: Through five games, the Canadiens’ top line of Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky has yet to score a 5-on-5 goal. In comparison, it took Gallagher just 180 seconds to score one. 

And when the puck went in, he was flooded with emotion.

“It’s excitement,” he said. “For me, it means a lot of things, obviously, like my mom, people in my life that meant a lot to me. And there’s a little moment when you enjoy it.”

Indeed, as he celebrated the goal, his thoughts momentarily turned to his late mother Della, who passed in March 2025 after a valiant battle with brain cancer. She would have been proud, he thought.

His teammates certainly were.

“He’s a playoff guy and knows the types of games he needs to be in, and he was awesome,” Canadiens forward Jake Evans said. “Even if he didn’t score, he’s meant a whole lot to this group. 

“He talks about maturity. And he’s a big reason why we were so mature in the third period, not just going up 3-2 but keeping our composure to hold onto the lead.”

Evans then chuckled when reminded of a second-period scrum where Gallagher emerged from a sea of four Lightning players without a helmet and a welt near his right eye.

“It’s like that every game he plays, not just this one,” Evans said with a laugh. “His helmet will come off, and he’ll probably have a cut on his face but that’s who he is. 

“He’s a competitor who goes into the dirty areas. And he’s pretty good at getting under guys’ skins as well.”

Most impressive was the fact that Gallagher’s fingerprints, literally and figuratively, were all over this Canadiens win despite seeing only 6:48 of ice time. In his 10 shifts, he had more of an impact than a handful of his teammates have had in the entire series. 

“You grind all season to have this opportunity,” Gallagher said. “So you just want to enjoy it. You can’t get lost in the importance of everything. You can’t forget to have fun. And that’s definitely part of it.”

What wasn’t fun, Gallagher said, was being back in the same arena in which he and the Canadiens watched the Lightning hoist the Stanley Cup after defeating Montreal in five games in the 2021 Stanley Cup Final. Wednesday was his first playoff game here since that heartbreaking moment, one that he was painfully reminded of when he walked into the arena.

Now, thanks partially to his efforts, the Canadiens have a chance to eliminate the Lightning and advance to the second round with a win in Game 6 in front of what will be a chaotic, deafening crowd at Bell Centre on Friday.

If ever there was a stage for Gallagher to shine, that will be it.

Just like Wednesday was.