Canadiens @ Lightning Stanley Cup Final Game 1: Game thread, rosters, lines, and how to watch

2021 Stanley Cup Final Game 1

Montreal Canadiens @ Tampa Bay Lightning

How to watch

Start time: 8:00 PM EDT / 5:00 PM PDT
In Canada: CBC, Sportsnet (English), TVA Sports (French)
In the U.S.: NBCSN
Streaming: NHL.tv/NHL Live, Sportsnet Now

Five-and-a-half months after a shortened 2020-21 season began, the Canadiens are one of the two teams left standing. They enter a best-of-seven series with the Tampa Bay Lightning looking to add another Stanley Cup win to the frachise’s storied history.

Both formations are strong, Tampa Bay’s surprising no one since they were in this position a season ago with largely the same team, Montreal’s shocking everybody with how they’ve discovered a winning form despite struggling through much of the regular season.

Some things about the Habs aren’t so surprising. Everyone knew Carey Price had such championship-calubre play in him; he’s shown it at every level in his hockey career other than the NHL to this point. Phillip Danault’s defensive prowess may not be known by a standard hockey fan, but his peers are fully aware of how difficult he is to play against. Nick Suzuki and Jesperi Kotkaniemi are once again showing the talents that put them on the map in the post-season bubble last year, and now arguably the top prospect in the game, Cole Caufield, has joined the team and brought his record-breaking offensive output right along with him. And there are defencemen Shea Weber and Jeff Petry, two players who had a repuation for their contributions at both ends of the ice long before this run began.

There’s no doubt this will be a tough matchup for the Canadiens, but that was said when they had to face the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round, then the Vegas Golden Knights in the third. Tampa Bay has the makeup of a championship team, but the Canadiens are proving that they have just as much of a right to hoist the Stanley Cup.

Montreal Canadiens projected lineup

Forwards

Defencemen

Goaltenders

Scratches

F: Joel Armia, Alex Belzile, Laurent Dauphin, Michael Frolik, Tomas Tatar, Lukas Vejdemo, Jesse Ylönen
D: Cale Fleury, Brett Kulak, Xavier Ouellet, Alexander Romanov
G: Charlie Lindgren, Michael McNiven, Cayden Primeau

Injured/Ill

F: Jonathan Drouin (leave of absence)

Tampa Bay Lightning projected lineup

Forwards

Defencemen

Goaltenders