2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs – Eastern Conference QFs
Game 1: Montreal Canadiens (A3) @ Tampa Bay Lightning (A2)
Start time: **5:45 PM EDT / 2:45 PM PDT**
In Canada: CBC, Sportsnet (English), TVA Sports (French)
In the United States: TNT, truTV
In the Lightning region: The Spot
Streaming: HBO Max, Sportsnet+
After a rough start to the 2024-25 season, the Canadiens had to exhaust their energy reserves over the final third of the season just to make the playoffs. It took winning streaks of five and six games, as well as a three-game point streak to finish the 82-game schedule to beat the Columbus Blue Jackets to the final spot. Every game down the stretch was essentially a playoff game, leaving no chance for anyone to rest. A young Canadiens team went to overtime in its first post-season match since the 2021 Stanley Cup Final, but lost the first two games on the road to start the series, and ended up winning just a single game versus the Washington Capitals in 2025.
This year, Montreal got the important work done with time remaining in the season, and that let them take things a bit more slowly in the final couple of weeks, earning the luxury of focusing on personal milestones for their top players rather than fighting for points in the standings. Injured players, specifically Kaiden Guhle and Alexandre Carrier, were given ample time to heal rather than being rushed back into the lineup. Veterans Mike Matheson, Phillip Danault, and Josh Anderson were taken out of the lineup to get some extra time off before taking on shutdown roles in the post-season, all entering tonight’s game on a full week’s rest.
A combination of David Savard’s retirement, the departure of veterans, and the injection of some prospects to the roster has actually lowered the Canadiens’ average age from a season ago, but this younger team also has the benefit of experience. Juraj Slafkovský has his first series under his belt (not to mention handling the pressure of being a relied-upon player at the Olympics), Jakub Dobeš has started two post-season games (and claimed a win), while Lane Hutson, who faced persistent questions about how effective he could be in the NHL, enters this year’s second season with a share of an offensive record for the most storied franchise in hockey, and as a point-per-game playoff performer.
Tale of the Tape
| Canadiens | Statistics | Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| 48-24-10 | Record | 50-26-6 |
| 48.6% (23rd) | Expected-goal share | 54.2% (4th) |
| 3.40 (7th) | Goals per game | 3.49 (4th) |
| 3.06 (16th) | Goals against per game | 2.79 (3rd) |
| 23.1% (10th) | PP% | 20.7% (17th) |
| 78.2% (18th) | PK% | 82.6% (3rd) |
| 2-1-1 | Head-to-Head Record | 2-2-0 |
| Cole Caufield (51) | Most goals | Nikita Kucherov (44) |
| Nick Suzuki (72) | Most assists | Nikita Kucherov (86) |
| Nick Suzuki (101) | Most points | Nikita Kucherov (130) |
Meanwhile, the Tampa Bay Lightning’s core is a little bit older, and the performances haven’t been the same for them in the past few years. After they won the Cup versus Montreal in 2021 they made the Final again the next season, but they enter this year’s playoffs on three consecutive first-round exits.
The second-most-senior member of their blue line, Victor Hedman is feeling the effects of a 17-year playing career that features a 13th post-season appearance. A suspected shoulder injury saw him play just 33 games this season, the lowest total of his career. He is currently still on Long-Term Injured Reserve, but trying to get ready to return at some point for the team. The questions aren’t just about whether he will be able to play, but if he will be able to contribute after a half-point-per-game season and posting the first negative goal differential since his third season in the NHL.
We know that Noah Dobson won’t be available for Montreal for at least the first week of the post-season, and even that is a conservative date for a re-evaluation, not a return. It sounds like each team will be down its highest-paid blue-liner to at least begin the series, and how game-ready they would be if they returned is a mystery for each.
The teams enter this series having experienced very different ends to the season. To arrive at the same total of 106 points, the Canadiens went 16-7-2 after the Olympics to rise up from the wild-card race, while the Lightning saw a sizable gap at the top of the Atlantic Division evaporate as they went 13-12-2 in the final 27 games. The three-day break they just enjoyed between their 82nd game of the season on Wednesday and today’s opener is just their third of two days or more since the Olympics and their first one in a month, allowing for a rare moment of recovery.
A significant reason for Tampa Bay’s late-season struggles was the power play, which was 27th in the NHL at 16.7% dating back to the league’s resumption on February 25. Montreal’s power play was also well off the pace it was earlier in the season, down two percentage points in the final third of the year.
On the first day of the 2026 post-season, there were 21 power plays awarded in three games. The general thinking is that teams are left to fend for themselves when the playoffs start, but last year teams were granted an average of three power plays per game as well, which was up from the 2.25 they could expect in the regular season. There will be plenty of opportunities to play with an extra skater in this series, and the team that is able to rekindle its power-play chemistry will have a major upper hand.
