Nothing about this series between the Montreal Canadiens and Tampa Bay Lightning has been easy on anyone involved. The intensity has made it an absolute grind for the players, and I think I can speak on behalf of most fans when I say that these games have had me chewing my nails down to the quick. It just might be the best first-round series in the league, and it shouldn’t come as much surprise that it has turned into a best-of-three, with both teams now having taken a game in the other’s barn.
There’s a reason why I waited a day to post anything after that game. Had I sat at my keyboard immediately thereafter, I’d likely have gone for the low-hanging fruit.
A lot of fans felt that the embellishment by Dominic James in the third period was the catalyst for the Habs’ game four loss. True though it may be that a later video seemed to show him being contacted near the head as he entered the zone, his delayed reaction clearly fell within the bounds of embellishment, and fans had a reason to be up in arms over that. It shouldn’t have been called the way it was, but I think that the officiating in the third period gave many of us a convenient excuse, allowing us to put aside the fact that the Habs seemed to back away from their game after opening up the first two-goal lead that any team has held in this series.
You could focus so much on the calls in the third period that you’d forget they almost blew the lead immediately after allowing the 2-1 goal, and before they even got to the third period. Jakub Dobes had to make a desperation save just to give them the opportunity to start the third period with a slim margin for error.
Jakub Dobes with a miracle last-second save to avert disaster. #Habs will take a one goal lead to the third period. pic.twitter.com/YHzu29aZP5
— Matt Drake (@DrakeMT) April 27, 2026
I think the late goal in the second period, and perhaps the hit on Juraj Slafkovsky, took their focus away for long enough to allow the Lightning back into that game. I think that after three-straight overtime games, they smelled a chance to take one in regulation, and playing with a multi-goal lead was a different, strange type of pressure for them to play with. I hope that they can learn from it, and find a way to be more prepared if they should be so lucky as to hold such a lead again.
There is some good news in all of this. I would venture to guess that if you polled Habs fans before the series, removing any knowledge of how the games have gone, asking if they’d be happy with a 2-2 series after four games, the majority would say yes. As disappointing as it was to see them lose the opportunity to take a stranglehold on the series, the situation they’re in now is only seen as a negative because of how close they were to taking that stranglehold. A couple of well-timed shots over four games, and they could well be up 3-1.
Conversely, you could make the argument that they’re a couple of shots, or a couple of mistakes from being down 3-1. This has been an incredibly tight series, probably much more so than the Lightning thought it would be. If you’re feeling disappointed about a 2-2 split after four games, imagine how the favourites feel that their two losses were also just one shot away from being wins for them. I wouldn’t believe for a second that the Lightning are happy with this being a best-of-three, even if they have every reason to believe in themselves to win it.
They’re facing a scrappy young Habs team that has already proven they can win on the road in this series. The fact that they’re scheduled to host two of possibly three remaining games is perhaps not the advantage it is presumed to be. That should be the message for the Habs heading into game five; you’ve already won here once, and if you can do it one more time, you know what kind of seismic event awaits at the Bell Centre for game six.
To the fans, you have a right to feel disappointed. To feel angry. But this team has given us reason to believe. So, believe.
Click the play button below to listen to your full Bottom Six Minutes, also available wherever you get your podcasts. We’ll be back on Wednesday night following game five.
