Last week, the Canadiens de Montréal achieved something incredible: they reached the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in 28 years, and they did it as the 16th seed. Yes, they were the lowest seed of any team that qualified for the playoffs. Also, their division, the Canadian division, had been regarded as the weakest one in the NHL.
Now, here they are in the Cup Finals, competing for the opportunity to hoist the Stanley Cup.
The only problem is that the defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning have looked incredible once again, and are currently up, two games to none.
It is not just that the Canadiens lost, but how they lost, that feels especially discouraging. They were in the midst of a competitive game to open the series after the first two periods, and then just completely fell apart in the third period. Tampa won that game, 5-1.
Then, in Game 2, the Canadiens looked competitive for a while, but ultimately lost, 3-1.
In the two games combined, the Lightning have outscored the Canadiens, 8-2. The celebrations of just days ago are starting to feel like a long time ago indeed now. Down two games and with no real wiggle room, it is all that the Canadiens can do just to try and earn themselves a win and start to feel good and confident about themselves again.
So, what is different? Why did the Canadiens look so damn good in the first three rounds, and now, instead, are seemingly being dominated?
Well, there are several reasons. First of all, the Lightning, as already mentioned, as considerable better than any of the other teams that the Habs have faced. This is a team that set a historic record two years ago for wins in the regular season, enjoying one of the finest in the history of the NHL. And after losing in the playoffs, they recovered as well as anyone could recover the next season, ultimately winning the Stanley Cup.
Now, they once again entered these playoffs looking dominant, and as one of the favorites. And they survived some tough tests, most notably the Conference Finals against the New York Islanders, who forced the series to go to seven games. Clearly, the Lightning have both a ton of skill and talent, but they also have confidence, even swagger, and can fall back on a hell of a lot of experience, to boot. By contrast, the Canadiens might just be happy to have gotten this far, while Tampa Bay expected to get this far. That is a huge difference.
Already, some people seem to be suggesting that this series is over.
However, I am not one of those people. There is still reason to hope that the Canadiens can still make a series out of it, and perhaps can even win. First of all, you just never know what is going to happen at any point in sports. As unlikely as it might now seem, things can change in a hurry. If any team knows this, it would be the Canadiens. Remember, they barely scraped by to qualify for the playoffs, and then promptly fell behind, three games to one, against Toronto. That series looked over. Admittedly, I thought it was over at that point. But the Canadiens won Game 5, and then took Game 6. In the deciding Game 7, the Habs completed the comeback, and then swept Winnipeg. They took Game 1 at Las Vegas, which made eight straight wins. Ultimately, they outlasted the Golden Knights in a tough series, to earn their ticket into the Stanley Cup Finals that they are in now.
Clearly, though, this is their toughest test. These are the defending champions, after all. We expected them to be here, and although I was hoping that they would not look as dominant as they have looked to this point, I cannot exactly say that it is a shock to see the Lightning playing so well, and being up so comfortably, up 2-0 in the series. They have scored a lot, and have allowed few goals. They have the momentum, and a ton of experience. Many will feel that they should be able to wrap up this series, and quickly, at that.
Obviously, the Canadiens need to get back to doing something to trigger their confidence. They need to win, desperately need a win. They obviously cannot afford to lose the next game, and then turn it on later. Really, there is little to no margin for error.
That said, however, it should be beneficial that this series now shifts to Montréal. Obviously, playing in Tampa Bay looked like a bit too much. Perhaps the enormity of the moment finally caught up with them in Game 1, and perhaps they just could not get it done in Game 2. But now, they go home, and perhaps it will be just in the nick of time. Home ice advantage may help, and if it does - if the Canadiens can prove to themselves that they can actually beat this team - maybe then they get their own confidence back. Maybe then, they get back to the fundamentals of tough defense and opportunistic goal scoring that saw them enjoy so much success during this postseason run.
At least, that is what I am hoping for. Most sports fans probably would be hoping for the same thing, wanting to see a competitive, well-played series. Because nobody but die hard Lightning fans or Canadiens haters want to see more of the same, to see this series end in lopsided fashion. If the Canadiens hope to make this a competitive series, the time has to be now.
The series is not over. But the Canadiens clearly have their work cut out for them just to get back into the series. Yes, the Lightning look tough. Very tough. Indeed, this is the toughest test for Les Habs to date this postseason, obviously.
But they have been counted out before, and proved that counting them out is a mistake. One win can turn things around, and we have seen series turn around before. Montréal itself knows that they can tun it around, because they were down 3-1 in the series against Toronto, and they came back. They did it then, and perhaps they can do it again.
Also remember, the Toronto Maple Leafs, like the Tampa Bay Lightning right now, enjoyed an enormous goal differential over the Canadiens. There were two games when Toronto had beaten the Canadiens by four goals. By contrast, the Canadiens won all of their games by one goal until Game 7, which they won by two goals. The Maple Leafs still wound u having scored more goals in the series, but it was the Canadiens who won and survived to fight another day in these playoffs. It can happen again.
So I am not giving up my faith yet. Those first to losses were not fun, true enough. But the Canadiens can make people forget about those two big losses if they win the next game at home, and especially if they win the next two. They do not have to blow out the Lightning in either game, they just have to find a way to win. If they win the next game, the series suddenly might look more interesting. If they do that, and then follow it up with another win in Game 4, then we have a series.
That is what I hope for, anyway. This is a team that should not be underestimated, and I believe that they will play their best game of the series to date in the next game, which give me hope, for one. All I want right now is for them to get on the figurative scoreboard, and notch a win under their belts. Then, we can worry about the next game, and the next, and so on and so forth, as need be. But they cannot get ahead of themselves. Right now, it's time to get that first win of the series, and I want to see them do it.
Go, Habs, Go!!
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