2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs – Eastern Conference QFs
Game 3: Montreal Canadiens (A3) vs. Tampa Bay Lightning (A2)
Series tied 1-1
Start time: 7:00 PM EDT / 4:00 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+
It was a difficult end to Game 2 for the Montreal Canadiens. With a 2-1 lead going into the third period, the Habs managed to create offence worth just 0.09 expected goals in the final 33 minutes of action. Some poor decisions that hadn’t been seen in the opening five-plus periods of the series showed up in the third, allowing the Lightning to tie the game and ultimately win it in overtime.
Most frustrating of all is that they missed a chance to make Jon Cooper look like a complete buffoon for inserting an AHL player into the lineup in response to a loss in Game 1. Scott Sabourin tried to disrupt Josh Anderson after drawing in, and not only did Anderson have a goal that put the Canadiens in the lead in the second period, Sabourin landed a hit on Anderson with just over two minutes to play that put Montreal on a late power play. The moment was there to make player and coach pay for that senseless mistake, on the stick of Lane Hutson, but a shot bounced off two pieces of Andrei Vasilevskiy’s equipment before hitting the post, and the opportunity for the perfect ending was lost.
Despite the missed chance, there are plenty of positives the Canadiens bring home with them. They generated nothing in the final period-and-a-half in Tampa, but in the first five frames of the series they had plenty of creative looks including 18 high-danger chances at five-on-five. The power play has been even more potent, going four-for-nine in the series so far, with that maddening triple deflection to end regulation that close to giving Montreal more converted man advantages than successful Lightning penalty kills. The fact is that the main goal of the opening two games was to return home to the Bell Centre with a win under their belt, and they took one in rather commanding fashion, coming within an inch of making it two.
Tale of the Tape
| Canadiens | Statistics | Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| 53.9% | Expected-goal share | 46.1% |
| 3.00 | Goals per game | 3.00 |
| 3.00 | Goals against per game | 3.00 |
| 44.4% | PP% | 25.0% |
| 75.0% | PK% | 55.6% |
| Juraj Slafkovský (3) | Most goals | Brandon Hagel (3) |
| Suzuki/Caufield (3) | Most assists | Jake Guentzel (4) |
| Juraj Slafkovský (3) | Most points | Brandon Hagel (4) |
Attention has turned to Montreal’s top line ahead of this first home game. All of Juraj Slafkovský, Nick Suzuki, and Cole Caufield lead the Canadiens with three points, but those have all come on the power play. They’ve been held pointless at even strength as the Lightning, the third-best defensive team in the NHL during the regular season, focused on that matchup with the last change they enjoyed on home ice.
That’s probably one reason for the need to task a minor-leaguer with defending Josh Anderson, so that lockdown of the top trio hasn’t been all bad news. The Lightning also weren’t able to come up with an answer for Zachary Bolduc even with control of the matchups, as he has been on the ice for 11 scoring chances, and only 0.16 expected goals against through two games. Already with two drawn penalties in the series, he’s been playing a strong brand of hockey for about three months straight now, and he could get rewarded for his effort in front of the home crowd.
The fans will inspire every player to reach his top level, and the energy will be even higher after watching the team claim a win already in the series. Home ice wasn’t so kind to the Canadiens in the opening part of the season, but like most aspects of their play, that saw significant improvement in the second half of the year, with the eighth-highest home points percentage since January 1.
The Canadiens turned the series in their favour with a win on the road, and now it’s time to make that count with a win at home. That would put the pressure on a team that has lost in the opening round the last three seasons.
