It wasn’t always pretty, but for most of Saturday night’s 6-5 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Montreal Canadiens were dominating the game, and they deserved a better fate.
And with better goaltending, they likely would have earned some points in the standings for their effort against the league’s best, and hottest, team.
All of the narratives we’ve heard about the Canadiens this season - that they never back down, that they are able to bounce back, and that they can score in bunches - all came to pass in Tampa. They scored twice in 16 seconds to take a 2-0 lead.