Montreal Canadiens hockey players won the seventh game of the first round of the NHL playoffs on the Tampa Bay ice 2:1 and won the series 4:3.
They advanced to the second round, where they will compete against Buffalo.
Habs captain Suzuki opened the scoring in the 19th minute with his first goal in this year’s playoffs.
In the first part of the game, Juraj Slafkovský also had a great chance, but he only hit the crossbar.
Tampa Bay tied the game in the second period when James changed the trajectory of the puck and sent it into the Dobeš goal.
“During the season, the guys help me a lot and I try to do the same. Sometimes they don’t play well, sometimes I don’t play well. They always hold me up and I always try to hold them up.
That’s our mentality. We have a really good team with strong leaders. This was nothing special on my part. I just tried to keep the guys in the game,” said Dobeš.
In the second period, Montreal did not have a single shot on the opponent’s goal. It was the first time in Canadiens history that they didn’t score a single shot during a period in the playoffs.
In total, they had only four shots on goal after two periods.
However, the winning goal came from their stick. In the 52nd minute, Newhook won with a baseball backhand in the air, which surprised Vasilevsky. Slafkovský was also on the ice during the goal.
VIDEO: Newhook’s winning goal
“I think it’s a big thing. We’re a young team and to have such an extraordinary game just shows what we’re capable of and that we’re going to be tough to beat,” said Newhook’s winner.
In addition to him, captain Nick Suzuki also entered the scoring list with his first goal in the series, who opened the scoring at the end of the first period – after Kaiden Guhle’s throw from the blue, the puck flowed and it was fortunately bounced past Vasilevsky from defender JJ Moser.
At the end of the match, Tampa Bay played without a goalkeeper, and Juraj Slafkovský reached the offensive zone with the puck, where he had a great chance to score a goal into an empty net. However, the defender Hagel prevented him from doing so.
Slafkovský just shook his head incomprehendingly.
VIDEO: Hagel’s intervention against Slafkovský
Montreal won 2-1 and extended their season despite being outshot 9-29. Goalkeeper Jakub Dobeš, who was declared the first star of the meeting, helped them win with an excellent performance.
An extremely balanced series
Cech became the fifth goalkeeper in the club’s history to win game number 7.
The nine shots on goal is a new negative NHL record for the number of shots in a playoff game won by a given team.
Interestingly, each of the seven games of the series between Montreal and Tampa ended with a one-goal difference. It happened only the third time in NHL history.
“I don’t have much to say about it, we’d just win 99 percent of the games after such a course. Today was different. But if you lose three games at home, you probably don’t have a chance to win the series,” pointed out home striker Brandon Hagel.
In the meeting, the visitors’ forward Juraj Slafkovský started in the second attack and was visible both forward and backward on the ice.
He mainly played with Demidov and Evans, but coach St. Louis alternated formations and in the third period he already played in the first formation in the composition of Slafkovský – Suzuki – Demidov.
The Slovak forward played a total of 21 minutes and 25 seconds and was the second most used forward of Montreal. He scored one shot on goal, one hit and a plus point.
Tampa defenseman Erik Černák spent 17:18 minutes on the ice. and recorded a block and a minus point. The club season is over for him.
Fifteen goal shootout
The opening duel of the series between Colorado and Minnesota brought a wild 15-goal shootout with the Avalanche triumphing 9:6.
The elite “avalanche” formation collected a total of 15 Canadian points. Paradoxically, Colorado’s first defense, consisting of Cale Makar and Devon Toews, was the most successful.
The first-named scored two goals, to which he added one assist, and was the first star of the match.
Toews had an even better record when, in addition to the goal, he added three assists, which was enough for him to be awarded the second star.
Forward Martin Nečas (0+3) and star center Nathan MacKinnon (1+2) also scored three points. Artturi Lehkonen had a goal and an assist.
On the opposite side, defender Quinn Hughes scored a three-point duel with a 1+2 balance.
NHL – playoffs (Monday, May 4)
1st round – 7th match:
Tampa Bay Lightning – Montreal Canadiens 1:2 (0:1, 1:0, 0:1)
Goals: 34. James (D’Astous, Goncalves) – 19. Suzuki (Guhle, Josh Anderson), 52. Newhook (L. Hutson, Guhle)
/series status: 3:4/
Quarter-finals – 1st match:
Colorado Avalanche – Minnesota Wild 9:6 (3:2, 2:3, 4:1)
Goals: 12. Malinski (Nečas, D. Toews), 13. Drury (L. O’Connor), 14. Lehkonen (MacKinnon, Nečas), 25. Blankenburg (Ničuskin, C. Makar), 39. D. Toews (Ničuskin, Malinski), 44. C. Makar (MacKinnon, Landeskog), 46. Kadri (Colton, D. Toews), 58. C. Makar (D. Toews, Nečas), 58. MacKinnon (Lehkonen) – 16. M. Johansson, 17. Hartman (Q. Hughes, Kaprizov), 27. Tarasenko (Trenin, McCarron), 33. Q. Hughes (Jurov), 37. M. Foligno, 57. Zuccarello (Boldy, Q. Hughes)
