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Lightning Strike Canadiens in OT, Send Playoff Series to Tampa for Game 7
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- Lightning Strike Canadiens in OT, Send Playoff Series to Tampa for Game 7
Eric Bolte-Imagn Images
The first-round playoff series between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Montreal Canadiens has quickly become a classic.
One which will end in a Game 7.
We had yet another one-goal game in this series on Friday night, this time it was the Lightning scoring for a 1-0 win in overtime.
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All six games have been decided by a single goal — with four going to overtime.
"One more,'' Jon Coopermouthed to the crowd as he walked off the Bell Centre ice, wagging his index finger.
On Friday, Gage Goncalves won it 9:03 into overtime when he got down low and swept in a loose puck off his own rebound.
Per ESPN, it was Goncalves' first-ever goal in an overtime.
"Happy with the way we kept trucking through," Goncalves said. "Now, we look at this moment, jjst forced a Game 7, so we're pretty fired up.''
Game 7 will be Sunday night in Tampa .
The road team has won four of the first six games in this series.
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The winner gets the Buffalo Sabres in Round 2 after they knocked out the Bruins 4-1 on Friday night.
"It was thrilling,'' Cooper said. "It was epic."
Both goalies were fantastic with Andrei Vasilevskiy looking like, well, Andrei Vasilevskiy.
The Tampa Bay goalie made 30 saves for his eighth postseason shutout with four in overtime which included a Montreal power play 5:30 in.
Vasilevskiy had a shutout in an elimination game for the second time in his career, the first coming in Game 7 of the 2021 Stanley Cup Semifinals.
Jakub Dobes was vying to be the third rookie goaltender to earn a shutout in a series-clinching game for Montreal in the NHL's expansion era.
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He made 32 saves in the loss.
"We're a confident group, we believe in what we do and how we do it,'' Montreal coach Martin St. Louis said. "We played our game tonight. This is probably one of the best games I have seen this young group play. You just have to embrace the situation; things are meant to be, meant to be for our growth as a team to play in a Game 7. I think that will help what's next for us.''
The Lightning is 7-3 all-time in Game 7s but this will be its first since beating Toronto in the first round in 2022. It is 4-1 in Game 7s at home.
Montreal is 15-9 in 24 Game 7s in its history — with seven wins in 13 road games. The Canadiens could tie Boston for the most Game 7 wins in Stanley Cup postseason history. The seven road wins are the most in NHL history.
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"We just have to block out all the distractions,'' Lightning defenseman Ryan McDonagh said. "We've had some lackluster games at home for whatever reason. We need to put our focus and mind in the right spot here, get the job done.''
STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS: ROUND 1
TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING (Atl2) v MONTREAL CANADIENS (Atl3)
GAME 7
Best-of-7 Series Tied 3-3
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When: Sunday, TBA
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Where: Benchmark Arena, Tampa
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Tampa Local TV: The Spot-66
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National TV: TBA
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Streaming: TBA
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Season Series: Tampa Bay won 2-1
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All-time Regular Season Series : Lightning leads 63-43-11, 6 ties
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All-time Postseason Series — Lightning Lead 3-1: Won 2021 Stanley Cup Final (5 games); Won 2015 Round 2 (6); Lost 2014 Round 1 (4); Won 2004 Round 2 (4)
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Series Schedule (Series Tied 3-3) — Game 1: Montreal 4, Tampa Bay 3 OT ; Game 2: Tampa Bay 3, Montreal 2 OT; Game 3: Montreal 3, Lightning 2 OT; Game 4: Lightning 3, Montreal 2; Game 5: Montreal 3, Lightning 2 ; Game 6: Lightning 1, Montreal 0 OT; Game 7: at Tampa Bay, Sunday TBD
This article: Lightning Strike Canadiens in OT, Send Playoff Series to Tampa for Game 7 originally appeared on Florida Hockey Now.
