With a 2-1 win in Game 5, the Montreal Canadiens moved one win closer to becoming just the fifth team ever to come back from a 3-0 deficit and win the series. But before P.K. Subban and company start dreaming of achieving that rare feat, they’ll first have to defeat the Tampa Bay Lightning in enemy territory on Tuesday.
Read on for more about this game below. You can also click here for our preview of Game 7 of the series between the Caps and the Rangers.
[sc:NHLArticles ]Montreal Canadiens vs. Tampa Bay Lightning Game 6 Preview
Series Scores & Schedule
Game 1 – Tampa Bay Lightning 2 at Montreal Canadiens 1 (OT)
Game 2 – Tampa Bay Lightning 6 at Montreal Canadiens 2
Game 3 – Montreal Canadiens 1 at Tampa Bay Lightning 2
Game 4 – Montreal Canadiens 6 at Tampa Bay Lightning 2
Game 5 – May 9– Tampa Bay Lightning 1 at Montreal Canadiens 2
Game 6 – May 12, 7:30 PM ET – Montreal Canadiens (+135) at Tampa Bay Lightning (-155); total: 4.5— view all NHL lines
Game 7* – May 14, TBD – Tampa Bay Lightning at Montreal Canadiens
*If necessary
Betting on the Montreal Canadiens
Although they continue to struggle on the power play in this series, the Canadiens did just fine in Game 5. Fine enough to force a Game 6, the first time Montreal has ever done so after trailing a series, 3-0. The Habs now look to extend the series even further, as they play another do-or-die away from Bell Centre. Montreal takes the ice of Amalie Arena on Tuesday, carrying a 5-2 record in its last seven road games.
[sc:NHL240 ]The pair of Devante Smith-Pelly and P.A. Parenteau was huge in Game 5 as the former opened up the scoring in the first period before the latter broke the tie in the third period with a game-winning score.
It wouldn’t be right, however, to discount the exceptional goaltending of Carey Price, who kept the Habs in the game. Price turned away 24 of Tampa Bay’s 25 shots on goal in Game 5 to improve his numbers in this playoffs to 2.17 goals against average and .923 save percentage. With another elimination game to be played, Price will have to continue his solid netminding against the aggressive offense of Tampa Bay this coming Tuesday.
It will also help Price if Montreal’s success in keeping Tampa Bay from getting power play opportunities extends into Game 6; Tampa Bay had zero man advantage chances in Game 5. Avoiding penalties would go a long way for the Canadiens, whose special teams have been disappointing in these playoffs. Montreal has the second-worst penalty kill unit among playoff teams, managing to snuff only 71% of their opponents’ power plays.
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Betting on the Tampa Bay Lightning
Lightning has already struck Tampa Bay twice in this series. If Jon Cooper’s team isn’t careful, they may just be hit three times in a row by the pesky Canadiens, who refuse to go away silently. Tampa Bay gets another chance to advance to the conference final as the Lightning play Game 6 at home, where they are 3-1 in their last four games against Montreal.
Despite their loss in Game 5, the Lightning were able to get a positive takeaway from that game in the form of a Steven Stamkos goal. Stamkos has been catching a lot of heat of late, as he has obviously been not playing in these playoffs like the deadly goal scorer he was back in the regular season.
But by scoring his second goal in four games, Stamkos may have finally gotten his lethal form back. That’s good news for Tampa Bay, which hasn’t been receiving much from its first line. Alex Killorn, Stamkos, and Ryan Callahan had combined for just four goals in this postseason prior to Game 5.
On defense, meanwhile, the Lightning are counting on Ben Bishop (7-5, 1.88 GAA, .930 SV% in these playoffs) to outplay his Montreal counterpart, Carey Price. Bishop failed to bounce back from his ugly performance in Game 4 (three goals allowed on 14 shots faced) when he picked yet another loss in Game 5.
Writer’s Prediction
Tampa Bay (-155) wins, 2-1.
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