The Montreal Canadiens on Friday will play their first home game in the Stanley Cup Final since June 9, 1993, when they host the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 3 at Bell Centre.
It will be the first Canadiens home game in the championship round at a venue other than the Montreal Forum since 1924, when they played at Mount Royal Arena and Ottawa Auditorium.
The Canadiens, who won their 24th Stanley Cup championship at the Montreal Forum in 1993, are 60-19 as the home team in the Cup Final since 1917-18, including 23-5 in the NHL expansion era (since 1967-68).
The Lightning won Games 1 and 2 in Tampa Bay by a combined score of 8-2.
"We have to win tonight," Canadiens forward Tyler Toffoli said.
Montreal hopes the return of coach Dominique Ducharme will provide a spark at home, where it will play in front of 3,500 fans per Quebec's provincial government and public health regulations.
Ducharme missed the first two games of the Cup Final and the past six overall in a mandatory 14-day quarantine after testing positive for COVID-19 on June 18.
"I don't think the last two weeks changes what it means to me," Ducharme said. "That's everyone's dream to be playing or being involved in the Stanley Cup Final. Just so happy to be back."
Lightning forward Alex Killorn will miss his second straight game with an undisclosed injury. He was likely injured blocking a shot with his left leg in the second period of Game 1. He missed the final 19:04 of the third period and hasn't played since.
Forward Mathieu Joseph will again play in place of Killorn. He had four hits in 11 shifts totaling 6:23 of ice time in a 3-1 win in Game 2 on Wednesday.
"I hope to get him in a little bit more today," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said of Joseph. "Again, special teams kind of dictated that, but when he's using his speed he can really push defenses back and he's got a good compete level. And 'Joe' has got skill."
Teams that take a 3-0 lead in a best-of-7 Cup Final are 26-1 (.963) winning the series. Teams that lead 3-0 in a best-of-7 series in any round are 195-4 (.980) winning the series, including 3-0 this season.
Here are 3 keys for Game 3: