Les Canadiens de Montréal
It’s over. The Tampa Bay Lightning won the series after rookie Ross Colton scored 13:27 into the second period, breaking a scoreless defensive struggle. It proved enough, as they completed the 1-0 victory. Tampa Bay’s goalie, Andrei Vasilevskiy, was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy for his play, and the Lightning become the first team since the Pittsburgh Penguins did it in 2016 and 2017.
However, there are some moral victories for Montréal, if that counts for something. Most importantly, they avoided the sweep with a win in Game 4 in overtime, taking an exciting game. And after allowing 14 goals in the first three games of the series, and looking like they simply could not compete with this Lightning team, they really got much more tough and tightened up on defense in particular, allowing only three goals in the last two games.
Unfortunately, they did not manage to generate enough offense to score nearly enough goals to take more games away from the Lightning. So, it is time to congratulate the Lightning on their win.
That said, I enjoyed the deep run through the playoffs by these Canadiens in the playoffs this year. As disappointed as anyone rooting for the Canadiens may be right now, remember that they were not supposed to even be here, or anywhere close to playing this late in the postseason. They seemed on the verge of being knocked out by Toronto in the first round, before catching fire on ice and winning eight straight games. That means that they staved off three straight elimination games against the Maple Leafs, swept past the Winnipeg Jets, and then took Game 1 against the Vegas Golden Knights.
Also, I am glad that they did at least take a game from the Lightning in the Stanley Cup Finals, because it was looking very dismal in the early part, when Tampa Bay just looked like they were overwhelming Montréal through the first three games. The Canadiens hung tough, managing to win Game 4, and then playing hard and containing that explosive Tampa Bay offense, even if it ultimately proved to be in a losing effort.
Congratulations to the Canadiens de Montréal on a terrific, truly wonderful and memorable postseason that should be remembered for many years.
As for the future…
Go Habs, Go!!!
Les Canadiens de Montréal
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