It should go without saying that Montreal needs a win tonight to keep any chances they have alive. No one’s coming back from a three-game deficit against this Tampa lineup and a two-game hole already looks daunting enough. Montreal’s defence and goaltending bounced back from an ugly game one performance with a better display in game two (with nothing to show for their efforts down 0-2). Tampa’s defence and goaltending have come as advertised through two games, inspiring confidence even as they hit the road for games three and four. And while we expected a low-scoring series, Montreal will need their offence to come from somewhere other than their young line of Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, and Tyler Toffoli as Tampa’s lethal line of Ondrej Palat, Brayden Point, and Nikita Kucherov has more than balanced things in the Lightning’s favour in terms of conversion.
Playoff Open Thread: July 2nd
