Canadiens @ Lightning Top Six Minutes: Montreal claims a professional win in Tampa

First period

• This is an encouraging start from Montreal. They’re quickly moving the puck with support to get out of the defensive zone, and have gotten out to a 3-0 shot advantage in the opening couple of minutes.
• Jayden Struble loses body position and reaches out to give himself a boost to correct that. The referee is 20 feet away to see it and call the holding penalty.
• Tampa Bay uses the power play to take the lead in shots, but the game remains 0-0. That’s the type of urgency the Canadiens need to adopt.
• The Lightning are trying a lot of stretch passes. So far they’ve only gone for a couple of icings, but the defence will need to be mindful or players speeding down the ice.
• Montreal is winning puck battles, including the members of the second line who had a lot of difficulty a couple of nights ago in Raleigh, so that’s another encouraging sign.
• The Canadiens are playing well, the better teams at five-on-five, but they’ve now been called for two penalties. Kaiden Guhle goes off for cross-checking.
• Nikita Kucherov skates through the back of Dobeš and lands on top of him. Seeing no arm raised, Noah Dobson comes over to say something to Kucherov. The officials call Dobson, and then realize that Kucherov needs to be called for goaltender interference as well to even things out. Had they called the interference in the first place, Dobson would have accepted a power play from the situation, but we have some creative officiating going on here.
• Jake Guentzel goes to the box almost immediately afterward, because the officials probably realize they didn’t handle that last situation properly.
• Lane Hutson drives right through the Lightning defence and four-on-four, and turns it into a four-on-three power play when Charle-Edouard D’Astous hauls him down.
• I thought there might be a lot of penalties tonight, but this is mostly just stickwork and improper defending than anything truly nasty. So far…
• It’s now a five-on-three as Guhle is released from the penalty box.
• Ivan Demidov misses a couple of one-timers, so he and Juraj Slafkovský switch spots. From low in the right circle, Slafkovský gives himself a birthday present with the opening goal, his 29th of the season.

• Noah Dobson chases Jake Guentzel around the net, and Gage Concalves jams his stick in Dobson’s armpit and holds on like he’s trying to reel in a marlin. That frees Guentzel just enough to get around the puck for a shot, sending it past the foot of Dobeš to even the score. The Habs players all complain about the play, but the refs see no issue with it.
• A very strong period for Montreal, especially given how they’d been playing were good teams in recent days. The had nine shots to Tampa Bay’s eight, outplayed them at five-on-five, and their power play has the edge in this one. If not for an illegal offensive play, they might have a lead to show for it.

First intermission

• How are the Ottawa Senators losing 5-0 to the Florida Panthers?

Second period

• A quality start to the second period as well, with several shifts spent in the offensive zone.
• Tampa Bay is jumping in front of every forechecker to slow him down from getting in the zone. In my book, that’s called interference.
• Eight minutes played, and Montreal is in complete control of the flow of the game. Any defending is composed to begin a breakout, and Dobeš is cancelling out any attempts to rim the puck around the boards.
• The Lightning put a good shift together versus the main fivesome, but Suzuki turns things around with a shot block and a counter-attack. Cole Caufield bangs his stick for a back-pass, but his shot gets deflected.
• This time the Lightning run interference on themselves. Darren Raddysh and J.J. Moser trip over each other’s feet and allow Slafkovský to sling around the outside. As everyone scrambles to cover him, he sets up Caufield for a 47th goal on a tap-in.

Great work by Juraj Slafkovsky, and this is as easy as they come for Cole Caufield. 2-1 #Habs

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— Matt Drake (@drakemt.bsky.social) March 31, 2026 at 9:37 PM

• The Lightning get the puck in the offensive zone and are immediately rewarded with a power play by the officials. The call is hooking on Alex Newhook, but I saw nothing on the replay. The refs just want the game tied.
• Joe Veleno gets the puck past the defenceman on the power play, but can’t go to get it behind the net because he’s getting held by a defenceman. Constant interference by the Lightning when the puck gets in their zone. But, I will accept them running picks in their own zone when it comes at the expense of playing the puck in Montreal’s end on a power play.
• Both Newhook and Oliver Kapanen have to wrench their sticks out of the arms of Lightning defenders as they try to cycle in the offensive zone. It would be comical if it weren’t so maddening how they’re allowed to get away with it.
• Kucherov gets called for slashing, you just need to fill up the infraction meter to get something called.
• Hutson jumps up to challenge a Lightning player with the puck in the high slot, and that’s the wrong move. Brandon Hagel speeds past him and takes the pass for a breakaway, but Dobeš will preserve the lead on a last-second shot before heading into the third period.

Third period

• Before the inevitable string of power plays for Tampa Bay to end this game, it would be great to use the remainder of this power play to grab a two-goal advantage.
• It takes too long for them to gain the zone, and a one-timer from Demidov is the only chance they get.
• Josh Anderson gets set up by Zachary Bolduc on a pass from behind the net, but the shot hits Vasilevskiy’s pad before he has to actually react to make a save.
• The third line is looking strong in this period, playing physically deep in the Tampa Bay zone.
• A scrum breaks out behind Montreal net. The ref gives roughing minors to Bolduc, Anderson, Guentzel, and Emil Lilleberg on the play. Not a bad trade-off to get Guentzel off the ice for a shift.
• A calm play by Demidov gets the second line in the offensive zone, and Newhook sets up a great look for Kapanen on a cross-ice feed.
• Dobeš makes himself as big as possible on a goalmouth scramble to keep out a couple of jams from the Lightning.
• Kucherov threads a pass through two Habs defencemen. Dobeš is again in the way at the back end to deny the chance.
• First half of the period down.
• Tampa Bay has 10 shots, but outside of the dangerous three or four mentioned they’ve mostly been routine saves from distance for Dobeš. Montreal has the edge in scoring chances this period, 6-5.
• Someone tries to interfere with Caufield too hard and falls down, and Struble sets up Montreal’s goals leader for an open look from the mid-slot, but Vasilevskiy’s pretty good, too.
• The defence is strong right now, denying entries, calmly clearing pucks. This is boding well for their ability to compete in a playoff series.
• I’ve been really impressed with Bolduc tonight as well. He’s been the best player on the third line with his engagement all over the ice.
• Another goalmouth scramble, again the Lightning can’t get through Mount Dobeš.
• The ref is calling Suzuki for cross-checking with four minutes to play. Suzuki could have maybe avoided that by not taking the puck when his man dropped to the ice on the contact.
• Kucherov turns in an attempt to avoid a hit from Evans and ends up going head-first into the boards. If they review at normal speed it will probably be reduced to two. If they go frame-by-frame, it will stay as a five.
• It’s reduced to a minor, and Raddysh also gets a minor for jumping Evans afterward. I believe that’s the proper call. Evans wasn’t looking at numbers when he committed to the hit.
• Vasilevskiy has gone to the bench for the remainder of the power from Suzuki’s penalty. Jon Cooper waits to see who Montreal sends out before using his timeout. There’s 2:33 left on the clock, 27 seconds in the penalty.
• A spinning clear by Mike Matheson turns out better than that, it’s the 3-1 goal into the empty net.
• The Olé-ing begins in Tampa, but this result isn’t secured just yet.
• Montreal’s top trio breaks out on a three-on-two. Suzuki decides this isn’t the time for anything cute and just sends the puck into the net from outside the blue line.
• Now that the result is all but set in stone, the rough stuff has begun. These teams will play each other again on April 9, and potentially seven more times after that.
• A little more goonery from the Lightning, and the refs call for the clock to run out on this contest.
• Montreal turns a very professional effort into a 4-1 win, their sixth in a row, and pulls within two points of the Lightning for second place.
• The Canadiens now begin to head back toward home, with a game versus the New York Rangers on Thursday. It is a classic trap game versus the fourth-worst teams in the league, but those are two big points with the Boston Bruins still right behind them.

EOTP 3 Stars

3) They need to dump all their Toronto content while it’s still relevant

2) Let’s go for the triple

1) One for the birthday girl