The Canadiens came out using all of their speed to create a frantic start to the game. It was established that whichever team could maintain order on the speed at which the game was being played would get the first break. By the 10 minute-mark, the Habs were up 10-7 on shot-attempts-taken and trailing 4-3 in shots. The speed battle changed into a grind war, with the real battles happening on the boards, and creating pressure situations to cause mistakes.
The Habs had a couple of chances to get on the board first, but it would be the Lightning who would get the first goal, scoring with 4:25 left in the 1st period with Nikita Kucherov getting his 5th goal of the series. P.K. Subban would take a penalty late in the 1st to put the Lightning powerplay to work. Carey Price made 4 key saves on the penalty-kill, and 13 saves in total in the 1st period to keep this game a 1-0 deficit.
Scoring Summary
| 1ST PERIOD | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15:35 | TBL | Nikita Kucherov (5) Tip-in – ASST: Ondrej Palat (5) | 1 – 0 TBL | |
Penalty Summary
| 1ST PERIOD | ||
|---|---|---|
| 16:52 | MTL | P.K. Subban Delaying Game-Puck over glass – 2 min |
Shots
| PERIOD | MTL | TBL |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | 6 | 13 |
| Total | 6 | 13 |
Team Stats
| CATEGORY | MTL | TBL |
|---|---|---|
| Power Plays | 0/0 | 0/1 |
| Hits | 7 | 12 |
| Faceoff Wins | 9 | 14 |
| Giveaways | 4 | 7 |
| Takeaways | 1 | 2 |
| Blocked Shots | 5 | 6 |
| Penalty Minutes | 2 | 0 |
