Canadiens vs. Lightning Game 3: Key takeaways as Montreal takes 2-1 series lead

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The Canadiens also got goals from Kirby Dach and Alexandre Texier, while Brandon Hagel scored in a third straight game — his fourth of the series — and Brayden Point also scored for the Lightning. Hutson scored at 2:09 of overtime when, with a crowd gathered in front, he let go of a slap shot from the blue line that got through all the traffic and beat Andrei Vasilevskiy, who made breakaway saves on Ivan Demidov in the second period and Josh Anderson in the third period to keep the game tied 2-2. Nick Suzuki’s top line for Montreal was held pointless at five-on-five for a third straight game. The Lightning were able to keep their nerve after an incredible pregame introduction, the chants of “Ole, Ole, Ole” cascading down from the rafters, delaying the anthems pregame. It was a spectacular scene both inside the arena and outside, where massive crowds cheered on at a watch party. And that crowd exploded again when Hutson ended it in overtime. They are the best kind of redemption stories, but especially with the level of vitriol Canadiens fans had for Dach after how Game 2 ended in overtime. Just to recap, Dach had the puck in overtime in the neutral zone but failed to gain the red line before flipping the puck down the ice to get a change, being forced to stay on the ice when that puck crossed the Lightning goal line for an icing. On the ensuing faceoff, Dach lost Lightning defenseman J.J. Moser in coverage, and Moser proceeded to walk into a dangerous area and score the winning goal. Dach was already being criticized by many in Montreal for his play since returning from an injury with five games left in the regular season. There were many questioning why he was even in the lineup. But when the overtime ended the way it did in Game 2, Dach had to deactivate his Instagram account because of how vicious the reaction from some Canadiens fans was on the social media platform. Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis defended Dach the morning after Game 2, and rather than take him out of the lineup in Game 3, St. Louis basically promoted him. Dach moved to center on a line with Alexandre Texier and Zack Bolduc, with Oliver Kapanen moving up to center a line with Ivan Demidov and Alex Newhook. St. Louis’ new line produced Montreal’s first two goals, with Dach earning a secondary assist on Texier’s game-opening goal, and Dach scoring himself through a Bolduc screen in the second period to tie the game 2-2. Without last change in Tampa in the opening two games, Martin St. Louis didn’t chase the matchups; he allowed Tampa to mostly get the line matchups it wanted. But the matchup game got more serious in Game 3 in Montreal. St. Louis definitely tried as much as he could to get Suzuki’s top unit away from the Anthony Cirelli line, with the Cirelli line having totally shut down Montreal’s most dangerous line in Games 1 and 2. But Cooper, unlike St. Louis, decided to aggressively chase it Friday night even without last change, getting Cirelli’s line back on the ice on the fly as soon as they could to match up with Suzuki. That got more difficult in the second period with the long change to the bench, so Montreal was able to get Suzuki away from Cirelli more effectively. St. Louis tried as much as he could to get Phillip Danault’s checking line on Cirelli. The danger for Montreal in too aggressively getting Suzuki’s line with Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovský off the ice every time Cirelli is on there is that you run the risk of getting that line out of rhythm, but St. Louis did a good job making sure that line still got their minutes. The result was that Suzuki’s line got more of a matchup with the Yanni Gourde line, which is a luxury for Tampa to have two Selke Trophy caliber centers in Cirelli and Gourde; it really helps on the road without last change. Suzuki’s line went a third game without a point at five-on-five. So, the cat-and-mouse game was in full gear in Game 3 between Cooper and his former player, St. Louis. They know each other very, very well. The scrums and after-whistle activity that defined the first period of Game 2 and much of Game 1 simply were not there in Game 3, with the Lightning seemingly content to play between the whistles in an effort to avoid handing the Canadiens power plays in bunches. The intimidation factor the Lightning were hoping to achieve with the scrums wasn’t working, and they were wise to get away from it. But that didn’t mean referees Chris Rooney and Peter MacDougall had a quiet night. The rhythm of the first 40 minutes of the game was almost entirely dictated by special teams, with four power plays a side. So while the matchups were a factor in the game, their impact was lessened by all the penalties. The Lightning were the only ones to take advantage of all the power plays, with Brayden Point scoring his first of the series to tie the game 1-1 in the first period and quiet the raucous Bell Centre crowd, at least temporarily, allowing Tampa Bay to settle into the game. The Lightning finished 1 for 5 on the power play, while the Canadiens went 0 for 4. The nine combined power plays did not quite match the 10 there were in Game 1; they just came in a very different way. There is nothing quite like Montreal in the playoffs. Three hours before Game 3, the Fan Fest in the Bell Centre plaza was buzzing with people. Thousands secured tickets to watch the game on a big screen just outside the building. And inside the building, it was a sea of red jerseys, and a wall of noise. Former Canadiens captain Yvan Cournoyer entered the Bell Centre from that plaza holding a torch, walked it into the building and the arena bowl, setting off the Canadiens’ traditional playoff ritual of the ice catching fire, and the building roared. It was electric. As Montreal often is this time of year. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms