It’s an easy narrative. The Montreal Canadiens, the youngest team in NHL history to make the playoffs (for the second year in a row, beating their own record), are filled with smaller skilled players and might not be ready for playoff success.
The playoffs are where time and space gets taken away. It’s less about skill and more about making your opponent miserable.
Last year, you could argue that the series against the Washington Capitals turned on the Tom Wilson hit on Alexandre Carrier. The Canadiens never bounced back from that. Tonight, they made it seem like they never wanted that to happen again.
The narrative is that the Canadiens lack toughness, that edge that you need in the postseason. It’s clear that the Tampa Bay Lightning wanted to send a message and subscribed to that thinking. Only something happened: The Canadiens fought back.
It wasn’t even the guy you would expect to do it alone, it was more than just Arber Xhekaj. Josh Anderson made Nikita Kucherov’s night miserable. Jayden Struble is not a guy you remove your cage to fight when you’re recovering from facial fractures. When Jakub Dobeš was run over by Brayden Point, he was met by Mike Matheson. Lane Hutson wasn’t intimidated by Corey Perry talking to him. Ivan Demidov gave a shove or two. Team toughness was everywhere you looked.
Montreal’s core knows what to expect when playoff hockey gets underway. After the trade deadline, teams flick a switch and games get a lot more intense. The Canadiens have played some of their best hockey since then, and every time they have faced another team fighting for a playoff spot, their best game comes out. Montreal leads the league in wins and points since the NHL Trade Deadline on March 6.
The Canadiens not only fought back physically, they fought back on the ice. Just 47 seconds after Darren Raddysh tied the game, Juraj Slafkovský scored the game-winning goal. The win not only secured two points, but did so in regulation.
It takes more than toughness to win a game, series, and Stanley Cup, obviously, and one regular season game doesn’t alleviate every question this team had regarding their toughness. The Lightning will surely adjust if these two teams play again in the first round of the playoffs, other teams may present different challenges. Thursday night was just another test in a season that has tested them plenty. They passed with flying colours.
