Canucks Aquire Ekman-Larsson,Garland for 9th pick and three players - July 23 2021

Story by Rocky Rhodes

Given the recent selections by Seattle followed by the NHL Entry Draft it’s no shock that the  Canucks were in the market to make a move that could involve more than one player.

Putting a solid product on the ice given the “cap space” all teams have trades can seem masterful to attain that not only involves both clubs working out the details, but also the player(s) wanting to move.

One Canuck player that would want a move, given his time in Vancouver is Loui Eriksson, who was a healthy scratch in many games over the past while.

He came to Vancouver via the Bruins with the expectations of becoming one of the team leaders as well as emerging as a possible star player to dress in the line-up, but things soon went south on that thought!!

While many might have had their thoughts on the fires in the province, others in the lower mainland were more focused on what Canucks GM Jim Benning would do and could he pull off a trade like Burke did with the Sedin’s.

That move alone proved magical for Vancouver, but it still never brought them the elusive Stanley Cup, but they did come close in 94.

As we are hearing about the trade one has to ask how much influence that both Daniel and Henrik played in this role 

Now we are hearing that Benning has acquired Oliver Ekman-Larsson (D-man) and Conor Garland (Forward) from the Coyotes in what some call a two for three plus more trade.

Moving south to Arizona are Loui Eriksson, Jay Beagle, Antoine Roussel, a first-round pick in 2021, a second-round pick in 2022, and a seventh-round pick in 2023. 

Ekman-Larsson (30) (6’2” – 200 lbs) managed 24 points (3-21-24) in 46 regular season games in 2020.21. 

He has played his entire NHL career with the Coyotes and was their fourth Captain in the history of the Coyotes September 13, 2018 and was their Alternate Captain from 2014-18. 

He has represented Team Pacific in two NHL All-Star Games (2015 & 2018).

While playing International hockey he (Ekman-Larsson) played eight games as Captain of Sweden at the 2019 IIHF World Championship, grabbing a total of eight points (3-5-8) and was plus-seven, which led Sweden’s defence in scoring. 

He won two gold medals with Team Sweden at the IIHF World Championships in 2018 and 2017. Ekman-Larsson collected a silver medal with Team Sweden at the 2014 Winter Olympics and represented Sweden at the 2010 World Junior Championships, where he was the highest scoring defenceman on the team, recording five points in six games.

Selected by the Coyotes sixth overall in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, the Karlskrona, Sweden, native has recorded 388 points (128-260-388) in 769 regular season games, and eight points (2-6-8) in 25 playoff games.

Garland (25) has recorded 39 points (12-27-39) in 49 games with Arizona this season. He led the team in assists (27) and ranked third in points (39). 

The Scituate, Massachusetts, native has played 164 career NHL games, all with the Coyotes, recording 96 points (47-49-96) and 58 penalty minutes. In eight postseason appearances with Arizona, Garland has two points (1-1-2).

Garland registered 328 points (104-224-328) in 206 career games with Moncton (QMJHL), leading the CHL in scoring twice (2014-15, 2015-16). 

He appeared in 131 regular season AHL games with the Tucson Roadrunners, collecting 66 points (25-41-66) and 99 penalty minutes and five points (1-4-5) in nine playoff games.

He (Garland) represented team USA at the 2021 IIHF World Championship, where he led the team in goals (6), assists (7) and points (13) and grabbed a Bronze medal.

The 5’10”, 165-pound forward was originally drafted by Arizona 123rd overall in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft.

“(Ekman-Larsson) is a tremendous player and person, and we wish him and Conor the best of luck in the future,” Coyotes GM Bill Armstrong said. “We are very pleased to acquire the ninth overall draft choice in this year’s NHL draft along with Loui, Antoine and Jay.”

Thanks to the Canucks media relations department for the above info.

Story by Steve Erickson

While many are just content to “get out” while attending various sports in their community, others are focused on the upcoming season for either minor and/or pro sports.

The Canucks have their sights set on, first the expansion draft which will celebrate the NHL’s 32nd team ahead of its 2021-22 inaugural season. 

We are hearing that there will be various celebrities on hand and fans in a park to overlook Seattle’s skyline in addition to visits to local landmarks such as Pike Place Market, which is famous for tossing the catch of the day through the air.

NHL chief content officer Steve Mayer mentioned “We’re going to use the fish [to reveal a selection],and we’re going to be creative.”

While this is taking place the Canucks have various issues they are dealing with as well, such as free agency, the draft (both) as well as continuing to get things finalized for the relocation of their farm team in Abbotsford.

With all this going on the Vancouver Canucks media relations department released their 2021.22 pre-season which will include seven (7) games, starting Sunday, September 26th against the Seattle Kraken with the game held in Spokane, WA.

Their 2021 Training Camp along with a pre-season game will be held in Abbotsford, Monday, September. 27th prior to the Abbotsford Canucks’ inaugural AHL season.

Ticket information for all pre-season games and details about how fans can attend Training Camp in Abbotsford will be released at a later date.

The Canucks will be the first NHL team to face off against the expansion Seattle Kraken when the two teams meet on Sept. 26 in Spokane, WA, putting Vancouver in a familiar position of welcoming a new club to the league. Four years ago, the Canucks were the first team to play the expansion Vegas Golden Knights during a pre-season game at Rogers Arena.

Vancouver will play seven pre-season games in total, including four as the home team. 

Their first home game of the pre-season will be played at the Abbotsford Centre on Monday, Sept. 27 vs the Calgary Flames, marking the Canucks’ first visit to Abbotsford since 2019 for a pre-season tilt vs Ottawa. 

The game will also mark the third consecutive pre-season that the team has held a home game away from Rogers Arena, in an effort to reach as many Canucks fans as possible throughout the province.

2021 TRAINING CAMP

Training Camp will take place at the Abbotsford Centre in Abbotsford, BC with on ice sessions beginning Thursday, Sept. 23 through Saturday, Sept. 25. 

Further information about the Canucks Training Camp schedule and access for fans will be provided soon.

2021.22 CANUCKS PRE-SEASON GAME SCHEDULE

Sunday, Sept. 26 at 6:00 PM | at Seattle | Spokane | Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena

Monday, Sept. 27 at 7:00 PM | vs Calgary | Abbotsford | Abbotsford Centre

Friday, Oct. 1 at 7:00 PM | at Calgary | Calgary | Scotiabank Saddledome

Sunday, Oct. 3 at 4:00 PM | vs Winnipeg | Vancouver | Rogers Arena

Tuesday, Oct. 5 at 7:00 PM | vs Seattle | Vancouver | Rogers Arena

Thursday, Oct. 7 at 7:00 PM | at Edmonton | Edmonton | Rogers Place

Saturday, Oct. 9 at 6:00 PM | vs Edmonton | Vancouver | Rogers Arena

Thanks to the Vancouver Canucks Media Relations Department for the above info.

Photo Credit - www.cnn.com

Story by Steve Erickson

Years back Lou Christie had a song on the top 40 titled “Lightnin’ Strikes Again” making it first to No. 1 in Canada in January 1966 on the RPM Top Singles chart,[1] then to No. 1 in the U.S. on the Billboard Hot 100 in February.

As fans glued to the tube watching how Montreal would or could react in game five seeing if they would somehow manage to pull off the unimaginable winning four consecutive games bringing the Cup back to Canada.

In case you may have forgotten, the Lightning won 62 regular-season games during the 2018-19 campaign then got swept in the first round by the Columbus Blue Jackets, but since then, they have been unbeatable in the postseason

Such wasn’t the case and when it was all said and done there are far too many critics who are putting the blame on Canadiens “tender” Carey Price, which if you watched any game you will know better or hopefully know better?

Really – what are you even thinking as he carried the team time and time again getting little productivity from the vet’s who are to be the leaders.

To no surprise it was Anahim Lake’s Carey Price who tried to take all the blame after the Montreal Canadiens came up agonizingly short in their against-all-odds campaign to end Canada’s 28-year Stanley Cup drought. 

His expressionless and downcast, was fielding the dreaded what-went-wrong question when he took the blame for the loss to Tampa stating ‘I just don’t think I played well enough at the start of the series.

Montreal came up short in their “bet against the house or against-all-odds” campaign to end Canada’s 28-year Stanley Cup drought.

Shea Weber, who comes from Sicamous, was having none of it by stating “I don’t think that’s the case at all — to be honest, I think that we weren’t good enough in front of Carey,” Weber interrupted his netminder, the pair of them struggling to express themselves after Wednesday’s 1-0 loss.

Weber continued “I mean, give (Tampa Bay) credit. They’re a heck of a team and  they’re here for a reason and they were better than us.”

The Canadiens managed to pull out a shocking Game 4 OT win staying alive to shift the series back to Florida. 

To no real surprise Nikita Kucherov made his comments very direct stating “I didn’t want to go back to Montreal. The fans in Montreal, come one. They acted like they won the Stanley Cup last game. Are you kidding me? Are you kidding me? They’re final was the last series.”

At Montreal’s expense, the Bolts successfully defended their Cup title, edging the Canadiens in front of a frenzied capacity crowd in a physical, hard-fought nail biter to claim the series four games to one.

The only goal of the game came after 33 scoreless minutes, when Ross Colton dressed and played in his first Stanley Cup final managed to tip in a pass from David Savard’s sliding through the crease behind a somewhat shocked Price.

Price was pulled in the final minute giving the Canadiens the extra attacker, only to see the Habs come up short pulling out all stops hoping to head to O/T. 

The loss extends the championship deficit for Montreal or a Canadian team who last claimed the cup was at the end of the Lightning’s debut season in 1993.

“I played on a lot of really good teams with a lot of really good guys — it’s hard right now, sorry,” an emotional said afterward, struggling to contain his disappointment.

Brendan Gallagher told the media through a gritty wavering voice “We’ve got so many players that worked their entire career to get to this point. And it’s a tough pill to swallow.”

Photo Credit https://www.nhl.com/canadiens/news/gallagher-every-single-guy-gave-everything-they-had/c-325593846

Andrei Vasilevskiy wasn’t overworked, stopping 22 shots for his fifth straight series-clinching shutout win, and collected the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP for his trouble. 

Price faced 29 shots while both “tenders” came up big. 

Weber mentioned “This group has a lot of character and were up against a lot of adversity this year and we proved a lot of people wrong — and in a tough year, to boot, where things weren’t normal and the guys stuck together and battled hard and obviously, you know, I wouldn’t change it for anything and I’m super proud of these guys.”

While they may have come up short for the win it’s clear to say that this was indeed a learning experience for many of Montreal’s younger superstars which for them was a chance to experience pro hockey which is a teachable moment they can only hope will present itself again.

Cole Caufield mentioned “This is what you play for, to have that opportunity once, twice, maybe even if that in your career and obviously, you can get pretty stressed out in times like these, but this is you playing hockey, the best game in the world, and you can’t take it for granted. But you’ve got to enjoy every moment you can.”

Interim head coach Dominique Ducharme said he reminded his players after the game about all the injury and COVID-19 related challenges they confronted in order to have a crack at winning the Stanley Cup.

Ducharme told the media “We kept moving forward, kept getting better and so we grew as a team a lot. We’ve got to use that the right way, and we want to make it back here with a different result.”

Price concluded after the game by saying “Whether you’re watching it on TV or standing there on the bench, it’s still the same feeling.”

Let’s not forget how they built their checking line and you may recall that J.T. Miller was flipped to the Vancouver Canucks in 2019 in a package that included a first-round pick. 

It was a deal consummated on the floor of the entry draft in Vancouver, on the same day that the Lightning selected left wing Nolan Foote at No. 27 overall.

Photo Credit - Gerry Broome/AP

Tampa Bay Lightning center Blake Coleman (20) is greeted by center Anthony Cirelli (71) and right wing Barclay Goodrow (19), behind Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price (31), after a goal during the second period in Game 2 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup finals, Wednesday, June 30, 2021, in Tampa, Fla. 

In 2020 (February) the Lightning traded both that pick and Foote to the New Jersey Devils for winger Blake Coleman; penalty killer, one-handed goal specialist and pickle juice aficionado.

The Lightning did not lose consecutive games in postseason play, and a big reason is Vasilevskiy, 7-0 after a post-season loss. 

He also closed out four consecutive series with shutouts. He had five shutouts in all. He allowed one goal or less in 10 of his 22 starts.

Captain Steve Stamkos got to raise the Cup for a second time, but this time at home, before a supercharged Amalie Arena that had chanted “We Want The Cup” through the third period.

The Lightning won last year in Edmonton, in a pandemic-induced bubble but this year’s win ensures the team would be remembered as one of the great franchises in modern history. 

Instead of being a one-and-done team, they became the first team since the 2016-17 Penguins to win the Cup in back-to-back seasons.

Nikita Kucherov led the playoffs in points for the second year in a row, with 32 and joins the likes of Mario Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky in that regard.

Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman, who scored 10 goals in the postseason, was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player throughout the playoffs.

The Florida-based hockey team is the second team to repeat as champions in five years, following the Pittsburgh Penguins, who won the Stanley Cup Finals in both 2016 and 2017. 

The team is on a winning streak and currently at 15-0. 

Cinching this Stanley Cup against Montreal marks the 15 series wins for Tampa Bay since 2015, which is the longest streak in NHL history — no other hockey team has won over nine series in that time frame.

Photo Credit - www.cnn.com

Photo Credit - theathlet.com

Story by Bruce Nolte and Steve Erickson

The Canadiens staved off elimination playing probably what some call their best game to date of the series, in game five against Tampa, beating the defending champs in front of the allowed 3,500 fans at the Bell Centre. 

Prior to the start of the game the Canadiens paid tribute to Columbus Blue Jackets' goalie Matiss Kivlenieks, who died of chest trauma from an errant fireworks mortar blast in what authorities described Monday as a tragic accident on the Fourth of July in Novi, Michigan.

photo credit  - USA Today

It’s reported that he was in a hot tub and tried to get clear along with several others as stated police Lt. Jason Meier. 

Originally police said the young Latvian slipped and hit his head on concrete, with the team saying Kivlenieks’ death resulted from an apparent head injury in a fall.

Montreal had requested that Canadian health officials allow Lightning players’ immediate family members to travel to Montreal but were denied the exemption.

The O/T win came off a scramble play to the left of the net that saw a sprawling Josh Anderson net the game winning goal at 3:57 putting on hold any chance of a series sweep by Tampa. 

Interim coach Dominique Ducharme’s lineup changes paid off as Romanov stepped up in just his third career playoff game. 

Anderson was shifted to a new line, playing alongside Nick Suzuki and rookie Cole Caufield in Ducharme’s bid to add more speed.

Montreal was outscored 14-5 in the first three games, including a sloppy 6-3 loss in Game 3 on Friday.

They got off to a better start Monday, thanks to Carey Price stopping 12 shots in the opening period

Given the fact that Tampa won last year’s championship in Edmonton it’s no  real surprise that Tampa Mayor Jane Castor suggested, a day earlier, that perhaps the Lightning “take it a little bit easy” in order to win back home.

Montreal came out showing a gritty performance that saw Josh Anderson (4th) put them up after a set-up from Nick Suzucki at 15:39 giving them the early 1-0 lead.  

This saw the Canadiens improve their playoff record to 8-1 when scoring first with Tampa outshooting the Habs 8-6 after 20 minutes. 

Tampa came out with more jump in the second that saw both teams have several close-in chances, but it wasn’t until 17:20 that saw Barclay Goodrow score his 2nd of the playoffs tying the game at one with helpers going to Blake Coleman and Ryan McDonagh. 

Carey Price was forced to make several impressive saves keeping the game within reach with both teams tied after 40 minutes.

It wasn’t lost on Canadiens assistant captain Brendan Gallagher how Anderson provided his teammates with a rallying cry a day earlier when he said: “We’re not finished yet.”

“We understood the hole that we were in, but we just kind of talked about it: Find a way to win one game here,” Gallagher said. “(Anderson) stepped up and scored a couple of big goals for us. It’s going to be the same thing next game.”

With the addition of Alexander Romanov into the Habs line-up he managed to score his first playoff goal at 8:48 as well as becoming the youngest Canadiens' D-man to score in a cup final with the assist to Jake Evans putting the Habs up. 

Tampa continued to press, catching the Habs in an outmanned situation deep in the Habs zone that saw Pat Maroon collect his second of the playoffs at 6:22 left in regulation time tying the game at two. 

Tampa pressed in the final minutes but were unable to get the game winner in regulation time and if not for Carey Price the cup might be heading south for the second time in as many years.

With time winding down  in the third and the Canadiens' season on the brink of elimination, Habs D-man Shea Weber was assessed a double minor for high-sticking with 1:01 remaining in the third period in what some might call a photo finish.

As both teams headed to O/T, it was anyone’s guess as to who might score the eventual game winner sending the Cup to Tampa or giving the Habs another life to live to play again.

Entering O/T saw Tampa carry the additional three minute PP which put more pressure on the Canadiens penalty killers with Price coming up huge keeping them in the game. 

Cole Caulfield fired one on target with the rebound bounce out to Anderson’s stick at the edge of the crease that saw him fire home  the game winner at 3:57 giving the Habs the 3-2 O/T win forcing game five.

Tampa outshot the Canadiens by a huge 34-21 shot total that has Tampa heading home for a chance to lift the Stanley Cup in front of their hometown fans. 

Montreal entered the playoffs with the worst record among the 16 qualifiers before rallying from a 3-1 series deficit against Toronto. Montreal then swept Winnipeg in the second round and eliminated Vegas in six games in the semifinals to advance to its first final appearance in 28 years.

Three Stars:

1st Star: Josh Anderson 

2nd Star Nick Suzucki 

3rd Star Carey Price 

Tampa has a chance of winning if they don’t go 0-for-5 on the PP; they hit three posts with the man advantage.

No real surprise as they’ve bounced back before, after losing potential clinching games and had clinical performances (last year against Dallas, Game 7 vs. Islanders). 

During the media press conference Perry told the press “Price’s play is among the reasons the Canadiens remain confident going forward and he definitely gave us a chance last night to get our feet wet and then start our engine,”

In NHL playoff history, only four teams have rallied to win a series after losing the the first three games, with Toronto the only one to do so in the final in beating Detroit to win the Cup in 1942.

The Los Angeles Kings were the last team to overcome a 3-0 series deficit by beating San Jose in a 2014 first-round series.

Photo Credit. - Ryan Remiorz/CP

Tampa Bay Lightning’s Blake Coleman (20) looks on as Montreal Canadiens celebrate teammate Josh Anderson’s (17) game winning goal at the end of overtime - Game 4.

Photo Credit - Gerry Broome/AP photo

Story by Bruce Nolte and Steve Erickson

The defending Stanley Cup Champion's the Tampa Bay Lightning dominated the Canadiens, pulling off an impressive 6-3 win in game three at the Bell Centre in front of a mere 3,500 fans.

After discussion with my sources I found out that the reason for the low number of fans is due to Provincial criteria that require over 80% of the population to be vaccinated before opening up any facility.

Tampa are one win away from taking their second straight cup championship after taking a 3-0 series lead in this year’s finals, which ironically is the first game of a final in Montreal in 10,050 days which dates back to 1993. 

Tampa opened the scoring from a point shot that saw Jan Rutta get one past Carey Price at 1:52 in the opening period to give the Lightning a 1-0 lead. 

A short 1:25 later while on the PP it was Tampa’s Victor Hedman who ripped a slapshot past Price putting the Lightning up 2-0. 

Possibly overdue but more of a calming down period, Montreal called a TO in hopes of settling the rattled squad down.

Many were questioning the scoring ability of Montreal, but eventually the Habs got on the scoreboard with Phillip Danault getting the Habs within one goal as he rang the shot off the goalpost past Andrei Vasilevskiy with 8:44 left to cut the score to 2-1 with the Lightning up on the Habs.  

Montreal had chances to get the tying goal but it was Tampa’s Andrei Vasievskiy who turned the Canadiens' shots aside, sending Tampa to the first intermission holding a one goal lead. 

The second saw Lightning’s Nikita Kucherov (playoff leading scorer) take a Palat pass going in with a two on one managing to beat a desperate Carey Price giving Tampa a 3-1 lead.  

Tampa’s Tyler Johnson made it 4-1 at 15:19 in the third giving.

Photo Credit - Dirk Shad/ Times

Tyler Johnson got an unassisted marker, (second of the game) with 4:41 left in the third, extending the lead to 5-2 with time working against the Habs. 

To the surprise of Tampa it was Canadiens' Corey Perry who got one 39 seconds later beating Vasilevskiy to cut the lead to 5-3. 

Lightning’s Blake Coleman put the game away for the defending champs, managing to grab an empty net marker at 3:1 marker to double the score to 6-3. 

From there it was all Tampa who shut down the Habs for the remainder of the third, moving them one win away from their second consecutive Stanley Cup title. 

The Canadiens outshot Tampa by a 35-30 tally in a contest that forced Vasilevskiy to make 32 quality saves in the game, while Montreal’s Carey Price finished the game stopping 24 of 29 shots in the loss.

Game four goes Monday night at the Bell Centre with the faceoff set for 5:00 pm BC time as shown on Sportsnet. 

Three stars: 

1st  Tyler Johnson 

2nd Nikita Kucherov 

3rd Victor Hedman

Things To Know

• The Tampa Bay Lightning will look to become the ninth team to repeat as Stanley Cup Champions, and the first since the Pittsburgh Penguins did it in 2016 and 2017.
• The Montreal Canadiens will attempt to win their first Stanley Cup since 1993, and their 25th championship in franchise history.
• Canadiens Head Coach Dominque Ducharme came out of COVID-19 Protocol to return for Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final.
• Speaking of COVID-related complications, Montreal forward Joel Armia flew to Tampa on a private jet earlier today to be in the lineup.. 
• This will be the fourth postseason series between the two Atlantic Division rivals, with Tampa Bay having won two, including the 2015 Eastern Conference Second Round in six games.
• Given that both teams boast elite goaltenders, one stat worth remembering and keeping an eye on is the Canadiens are 11-0 in the Playoffs when scoring at least two goals.
  
• 
  
• Tale of the Tape
• 
  Record: Tampa Bay Lightning – 12-6 / Montreal Canadiens – 12-5
  Goals For: Tampa Bay Lightning – 58 / Montreal Canadiens – 43
  Goals Against: Tampa Bay Lightning – 37 / Montreal Canadiens – 37
  Power Play %: Tampa Bay Lightning – 37.7% / Montreal Canadiens – 20.9%
  Penalty Kill %: Tampa Bay Lightning – 83% / Montreal Canadiens – 93.5%

Photo Credit - https://winninghabit.com

Story by Bruce Nolte and Steve Erickson

Montreal played their best game of this year’s Stanley Cup championship series but fell short of getting a series split heading home for games three and four. 

The hard fought battle wasn’t enough against the defending champs, giving them a 3-1 win in game two managing to take a 2-0 series lead. 

The Canadiens outshot Tampa forcing goalie Andrie Vasilevskiy to come up with some remarkable saves, which he did as he turned aside 42 of 43 shots through sixty minutes. 

The opening period was scoreless with Montreal’s Carey Price facing only six shots while Tampa’s Andrie Vasilevskiy was forced to make 13 through the first twenty minutes.

The Lightning opened the scoring at 6:40 with Anthony Cirelli (5th) of the playoffs sending a shot through traffic that somehow found its way under the blocker of Price with helpers going to Johnson and Rutta. 

The Canadien’s responded as London Ontario’s Nick Suzucki got his 6th of the postseason four minutes later sending one through the Lightning “D” who screened Vasilevskiy tying the game at one. 

Montreal carried the play against the Lightning as Vasilevskiy faced 16 shots coming up huge to deny Montreal any chance of taking the lead, but a late turnover at the Montreal at the blueline allowed Goodrow to intercept an errant pass. 

The transition play saw the game change in the dying second as the Habs defense sent Ryan McDonagh in with a streaking Blake Coleman stride by stride.

Using his size (5’11”) to his advantage as well as the length of his stick he (Coleman) made a desperation dive while on his stomach and managed to get it over a sprawling Carey Price with no time left on the clock.

Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy (88) makes a left pad save on Montreal Canadiens right wing Tyler Toffoli (73) during the third period of Game 2 Wednesday at Amalie Arena. - Photo credit - Ivy Ceballo/Times IVY CEBALLO | Times 

As one would expect the play was under video review and after a short delay it was determined that there was .02 seconds left on the clock giving the Lightning a 2-1 lead after forty minutes. 

The Habs carried the play pressing Andrie Vasilevskiywho was forced to come up huge saves as they pressed for the equalizer but denied all chances. 

Vasilevskiy faced 14 shots managing to preserve the Lightning lead while some 200 feet Canadiens Carey Price faced 10 of the 23 by Tampa.

A fluke chance saw Ondrjey Palat beat Montreal’s D-man to the puck deep in their zone almost parallel with the goal-line firing a desperation shot on Price who was protecting the post that somehow bounced in off his skate and into the net. 

Tampa’s late goal at 4:48 of the third gave them a 3-1 lead on the scoreboard which proved to solidify the win heading to Montreal for games three and four. 

Montreal continued to press the Lightning “D” getting several solid scoring chances only who again were turned aside by Andrie Vasilevskiy who denied them of getting back into the game and the series.  

Tampa now takes a 2-0 series lead to Montreal playing at the Bell Centre that will only be permitted their standard 3,500 fans in attendance, somewhat short of the 10,000 they were hoping for.  

It is interesting to note that Canadiens Head Coach Dominique Ducharme will return to behind the bench for game three which could be possibly more of a motivation for the Canadiens.

Photo Credit Global News / The Canadian Press

Things to ponder:

Acting coach Luke Richardson has done a good job running the bench but Montreal should benefit from having Ducharme on hand to implement his system.

Montreal managed to score only one goal in each of the first two games and made life difficult for goaltender Carey Price with poor puck management. 

Five of the eight Tampa Bay goals were scored after the Canadiens turned the puck over and four of those turnovers were in the neutral or offensive zone.

Tampa Bay goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy finished second to Marc-André Fleury in the Vézina Trophy voting, which might have been based more on sentiment than ability. 

If the Lightning repeat as the Stanley Cup champion, Vasilievskiy should be the easy choice for the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player in the playoffs. 

Vasilevskiy was the difference in Game 2 making 42 saves and allowed fewer than two goals in 10 games with a GAA of 1.89 along with his playoff-best SV% of .939. 

Nick Suzuki and rookie Cole Caufield had a bounce-back game after nerves got the better of them in Game 1. 

Suzuki had nine shots on goal and scored the only Montreal goal on a power-play shot from the blue line that rolled between Vasilevskiy’s pads. 

With concerns about the kids in Game 1, the Canadiens have to figure a way to score the first goal, one of the keys in their first three series, while also needing some offence from their veteran leaders. 

While Phillip Danault’s line is tasked with shutting down Tampa Bay’s top lines, it was has to be able to generate more than two shots on goal.

Steve Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point, Yanni Gourde and Erik Cernak scored for the Lightning, who are seeking back-to-back titles. Ben Chiarot scored for Montreal, seeking its 25th title overall, but its first since 1993.

“We didn’t play our best,” acting Canadiens head coach Luke Richardson said. “We know we can play better.”

The international flavour of the game — a Canadian team versus an American team — had Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and U.S. President Joe Biden agreeing to a friendly wager on Twitter. 

Photo credit - D. Laird Allan

The crest was a collaboration between Nike designer, Stuart Iwasaki and Musqueam artist, Debra Sparrow and was used on the 2010 Team Canada Olympic hockey jersey.

Story by D. Laird Allan

  Canada Day has always been an important date for me.  We have one of the best countries to live in, in this world.  I want everyone to have a peaceful Canada Day, but I want to ask you all to pause to remember the indigenous children and residential school survivors and the hardships that were put upon them.  We as Canadians must take ownership of taking on reconciliation for a better Canada for all.