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Lightning top Canadiens 1-0 in OT, push series to seventh game: Takeaways
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- Lightning top Canadiens 1-0 in OT, push series to seventh game: Takeaways
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The Tampa Bay Lightning forced their Eastern Conference First Round series to a seventh game with a 1-0 overtime victory over the Montreal Canadiens in Game 6 at Bell Centre on Friday night.
The Atlantic Division rivals were scoreless through more than 69 minutes of action before Gage Goncalves banged a loose puck past Jakub Dobes for the game's lone goal. Brandon Hagel spun past a checker at the right point and fed Dominic James in the lower right circle. James flung the puck at the net, where Goncalves got a poke at it.
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Dobes got a piece of the shot, but Goncalves reached the loose puck and muscled it into the net at 9:03 for the win.
The goal came after each goaltender made game-saving stops in OT. Tampa Bay 's Andrei Vasilevskiy got across to stop Game 1 hero Juraj Slafkovsky 's one-timer from the right circle seconds after Lightning star Nikita Kucherov was called for tripping 5:30 into overtime. The Lightning killed the remainder of the penalty, and Kucherov nearly won it when he came out of the box, grabbed the puck in the Montreal zone and forced Dobes to make a brilliant stop to keep the game scoreless.
Vasilevskiy, who allowed a soft goal that proved to be the winner in Montreal's 3-2 victory in Game 5, rebounded with a flawless, 30-save effort. Dobes finished with 32 saves as the teams played their fourth overtime game and sixth one-goal game in a series that's becoming a classic.
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The series returns to Benchmark International Arena in Tampa for Game 7 on Sunday. But playing at home may not be an edge for the Bolts; the home team has lost four of the six games in this series.
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To say the scoreless first period was played at a frantic pace would be an understatement. With the Lightning in "win or go home" mode and the Canadiens eager to close out the series before their home fans, both teams were revved up. The Canadiens piled up 26 hits in the opening 20 minutes; the Lightning, not known as a physical team, had 15.
Cole Caufield , Montreal's 51-goal scorer during the regular season, nearly opened the scoring less than three minutes into the game; he beat Vasilevskiy but rang the post. That came after Tampa Bay's Yanni Gourde picked up a misplay by Dobes and circled behind the net but couldn't connect on the wraparound, sliding the puck through the crease.
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Vasilevskiy faced the tougher chances as the period went on, robbing Jake Evans twice from close range and denying Ivan Demidov from the right circle on a 2-on-1.
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The Canadiens got the game's first power play when Jake Guentzel was called for a needless high-sticking penalty with 11 seconds remaining in the period but generated nothing.
The pace was a little less frantic in the second period, but the result was the same – no goals. That was primarily because of some late heroics by Vasilevskiy, who lived up to his status as a Vezina Trophy finalist – especially after Charle-Edouard was called for slashing at 16:54. He denied Caufield again from 20 feet, then robbed Demidov from the right circle after a perfect setup and denied him again on the rebound.
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The Canadiens continued to control play after the power play ended, and Vasilevskiy got in front of a last-second try from Philip Danault to keep the game scoreless through 40 minutes.
Montreal controlled the first five minutes of the third period, but the play turned after Montreal defenseman Kaiden Guhle was called for slashing Guentzel at 5:11 to break up a solo scoring chance. Tampa Bay didn't score but did generate a lot of pressure and dominated play for most of the rest of the period.
The Lightning got a late power-play chance when Demidov was called for goaltender interference with 3:17 left after he piled into Vasilevskiy.
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Tampa Bay controlled the puck for almost the entire power play but couldn't get a shot past Dobes, who made big saves on Kucherov, Raddysh and Point, then denied Brandon Hagel's tip-in try just after the penalty ended.
Tampa Bay ended regulation with a 28-27 edge in shots on goal and an 81-58 margin in attempts.
Key takeaways after Lightning stay alive by beating Canadiens 1-0 in Game 6
Vasilevskiy steps up
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The Lightning were outplayed in Game 5 but were even at 2-2 before Vasilevskiy was beaten by a shot he stops 99 times out of 100. He more than atoned for that in Game 6, earning his 70th career playoff win and eighth shutout.
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The "Big Cat" was everywhere, leaving Montreal shooters (and team executives) shaking their heads.
"He was outstanding tonight," D'Astous told Scripps Sports. "Because of him we're going back to Tampa. It was fun to see."
Hagel said having Vasilevskiy in goal lets he and his teammates play with more freedom.
"You can go out and play your game and not have to worry about what's behind you," he said. "It felt like Vasy was never going to let in another goal."
Goncalves an unlikely hero
On a team with stars like Kucherov, Vasilevskiy and Hagel, it's easy to lose sight of players like Goncalves, a bottom-six forward who does a lot of the grunt work. He was pointless in the series before getting an assist in Game 5 and hadn't scored a goal since March 17.
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But he refused to be denied on the game-winner, outmuscling defenseman Kaiden Guhle and refusing to quit on the play after Dobes stopped his first attempt.
"I had a conversation with him before the game about what he had to do in this game, to be where he had to be" Cooper said. "It's only fitting that it took a goal like this to win. It was a wonderfully played game by both teams."
Win or go home, take 2
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The Lightning probably could have flown home without the plane – such is the emotion of a season-saving overtime win. But as Cooper noted, "We haven't won anything yet."
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Both teams have enjoyed success in Game 7s. The Lightning have won seven of 10, including four of the five they've played at home. This is their first Game 7 since the first round in 2022, when they defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 2-1.
Montreal is 15-9 in Game 7s, including a 7-6 mark on the road. The Canadiens' last Game 7 came when they defeated Toronto 3-1 in the second round in 2021. Ironically, Corey Perry scored the game-winning goal – the same Corey Perry who'll be trying to help the Lightning end his former team's season.
"These are the moments you live for," Hagel said.
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