3 Things to Watch: Canadiens at Lightning, Game 2 of Eastern Conference 1st Round

(3A) Canadiens at (2A) Lightning

Eastern Conference First Round, Game 2

Montreal leads best-of-7 series 1-0

7 p.m. ET; The Spot, ESPN2, SN, TVAS, CBC

TAMPA -- The Tampa Bay Lightning will look to reverse two troublesome trends when they host the Montreal Canadiens in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference First Round at Benchmark International Arena on Tuesday.

The Lightning are 0-5 in Game 2 dating to the 2022 Eastern Conference Final, including in the first round the past three seasons that led to their eventual elimination.

And with their 4-3 overtime loss to the Canadiens in Game 1 on Sunday, they're 2-10 at home in their past 12 Stanley Cup Playoff games.

"Yeah, that's not a very good look," forward Brandon Hagel said with a laugh Monday, "but at the end of the day that's just a stat. There is a different group that comes in here every single year. You can't really put that in the back of your head."

The Canadiens haven't had a 2-0 lead in a best-of-7 series since the second round of the 2021 playoffs when they swept the Winnipeg Jets on their way to Stanley Cup Final, a five-game loss to the Lightning. They are 82-43 (.656 winning percentage) all time in Game 2. The only team in NHL history with a better winning percentage is the Columbus Blue Jackets (5-2, .714).

They would love to return to Bell Centre on Friday with a 2-0 lead but know the Lightning will desperately try to avoid that.

"I expect them to come out hard," Canadiens defenseman Kaiden Guhle said. "They're probably not too happy about (Game 1) and they are going to want that one."

Teams that win Game 1 of a best-of-7 series go on to win the series 68 percent of the time (535-252). That increases to 86.1 percent for teams that take a 2-0 lead (360-58), including 80.4 percent (90-22) when starting on the road.

Here are 3 things to watch in Game 2:

1. Getting even

Each team will try to generate more offense at 5-on-5. Seven goals were scored in Game 1, two at even strength, one for each team. Canadiens forward Cole Caufield had two shots on goal, both on the power play, and he scored 51 goals this season. Captain Nick Suzuki, who had 101 points (29 goals, 72 assists), did not have a shot on goal. The Canadiens had more shots on goal on the power play (10), than at even strength (nine). Only one Lightning forward, Nikita Kucherov, had more than one 5-on-5 shot on goal (four).

"I think that's just the way the games are played," Caufield said. "It's pretty tight. I think there's a lot of talk about 5-on-5 that we can do better at.

"We're going to have to figure it out. In the first game, it's a feeling-out process. They don't want to give up too much, so we're going to find ways to find the answers."

2. Killer instinct

The Lightning gave the Canadiens six power plays in Game 1 and allowed three goals, including to Juraj Slafkovsky at 1:22 of overtime. Staying out the box is paramount for the Lightning, but so is shutting down the power play when they are in the box.

"I don't think you need to hit the panic button," Hagel said. "I think six penalties is too much, and you're starting to kill six penalties, and they get one, they get two and maybe you're gripping the stick a little too tight. And so at the end of the day, we're just going to go out there and continue to do what we did last game, and no tweaks need to be made, maybe a little bit in the details."

3. Nasty boys

The Lightning and Canadiens had some rough-and-tumble affairs during the regular season, including when they combined for 126 penalty minutes in Tampa Bay's 2-1 win in Montreal on April 9. Despite the 13 combined penalties taken in Game 1, only two were for roughing after the whistle (two minutes each to Josh Anderson of Montreal and Yanni Gourde of Tampa Bay).

Lightning coach Jon Cooper thinks things may change for Game 2.

"Last night (Game 1), are we expecting to have massive, massive scrums after every single play? I don't know if that's the case," Cooper said. "Do I expect it to amp up a little bit tomorrow? You know, I do."

Canadiens projected lineup

Cole Caufield -- Nick Suzuki -- Juraj Slafkovsky

Alexandre Texier -- Alex Newhook -- Ivan Demidov

Zachary Bolduc -- Oliver Kapanen -- Kirby Dach

Jake Evans -- Phillip Danault – Josh Anderson

Mike Matheson -- Alexandre Carrier

Kaiden Guhle -- Lane Hutson

Jayden Struble -- Xhekaj Arber

Jakub Dobes

Jacob Fowler

Scratched: Brendan Gallagher, Joe Veleno, Adam Engstrom, David Reinbacher

Injured: Patrik Laine (lower body), Noah Dobson (upper body)

Lightning projected lineup

Gage Goncalves -- Brayden Point -- Nikita Kucherov

Brandon Hagel -- Anthony Cirelli -- Jake Guentzel

Zemgus Girgensons -- Yanni Gourde -- Nick Paul

Corey Perry -- Dominic James – Scott Sabourin

J.J. Moser -- Darren Raddysh

Ryan McDonagh -- Erik Cernak

Declan Carlile -- Emil Lilleberg

Andrei Vasilevskiy

Jonas Johansson

Scratched: Oliver Bjorkstrand, Conor Geekie, Max Crozier, Brandon Halverson

Injured: Pontus Holmberg (upper body), Victor Hedman (personal leave), Charle-Edouard D'Astous (undisclosed)

Status report

The Canadiens did not hold a morning skate and are expected to have the same lineup from their 4-3 overtime victory in Game 1. … Carlile, who played 42 regular-season games for the Lightning this season, will make his Stanley Cup Playoff debut. He replaces D'Astous, a defenseman who was injured on a hit by Anderson in Game 1. … Sabourin comes into the lineup in place of Geekie. … Hedman, who hasn't played since March 19 and took a leave of absence for personal reasons March 26, skated again Tuesday. Lightning coach Jon Cooper said the defenseman and Tampa Bay captain could return to the lineup "at some point, but not right now." He also said he wouldn't rule anything out but would put a return in the first round as doubtful.