A Winning Habit
Fansided

Canadiens vs. Lightning Game 1 Recap: A Heartbreaker

By Lissa Albert

facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 3
Next

Overtime continued, with plenty of chances but no goals. It was fast-paced, heart-stopping hockey to watch. Tomas Plekanec had one of the best chances with a shot on Bishop, who stacked his pads to foil what would have been the game-winning goal.

In the second overtime, Dale Weise came close to repeating his Game 1 OT winner of last season against this same team:

Then, just 2:06 into the period, none other than Nikita Kucherov took a pass from Valtteri Filppula and managed to take a low shot which went past Carey Price to score the OT winner. It was a heartbreaking ending to a game Habs fans – and players – felt the Habs should have won.

Controversy Number Two

Only after the game did something emerge, again on Twitter, that has caused a second ripple of controversey – this time on the part of the Canadiens and their fans.

CBC’s George Stroumboulopoulos (and a co-host of CBC’s Hockey Night In Canada) tweeted this:

You can see Filppula inside the blue line and Brian Boyle with the puck not yet in the offensive zone. SportsNet analyst (and former hockey player) Nick Kypreos, Stroumboupoulous’s colleague, picked it up with his own take:

The evidence spread throughout Twitter, and likely was brought to the attention of the Canadiens’ coaching staff, if they didn’t already know about it (it didn’t seem like they did on the bench).

By the time Habs coach Michel Therrien took the podium for his press conference, the missed call was a fact, and he was asked about it. As reported by ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun:

"“It’s really frustrating losing a game on an offside,” fumed Habs head coach Michel Therrien after the game. “Those things are not supposed to happen. I thought our players, our team, got a great effort. You can’t ask for a better effort. But to lose a game because of an offside? It’s not like a penalty. A penalty’s always a judgment call, so you can always question the judgment and there’s nothing you can do. But an offside is black or white. And it was clearly an offside. End up losing the game.” May 1, 2015; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Montreal Canadiens head coach Michel Therrien (L) talks to right wing P.A. Parenteau (15), center Torrey Mitchell (17) and right wing Devante Smith-Pelly (21) during the second period against Tampa Bay Lightning in game one of the second round of the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: Jean-Yves Ahern-USA TODAY Sports"

LeBrun echoes what others have said on Twitter: that Montreal players had plenty of time to clear the puck before Kucherov scored the game winner.

However, I don’t agree. An offside call is supposed to stop the play. Goals scored after a player is offside should not happen.

We know they do, but in a playoff series, with a game-winning goal in a double overtime, this isn’t an ordinary, everyday missed call with few consequences.

It is a game breaker for the losing team. In a playoff series.

And had the referees or linesmen done their jobs, they would have whistled the play dead and a new face-off would have taken place.

I refuse to believe that Montreal failing to clear the puck negates the offside. As Therrien said, it’s black or white. Call it or don’t call it, but missing such an important call cheats the losing team.

Did the Habs have plenty of scoring chances? Yes. Did they fail to capitalize on them throughout 5 periods? Yes. Either stopped by posts or Bishop or blocked shots or plain missing the net, they did not score.

Neither, however, did Tampa Bay. And the advantage of their player inside the offensive zone, which led directly to his winning goal, just doesn’t seem fair.

As well, no one is saying the offside on the winning goal is an excuse for the Habs not scoring. It’s a fact of the game, and a tough pill to swallow knowing there might have been another chance for the Canadiens that just may have gone their way.

It’s important to shake it off, though. Let’s face it: the Canadiens played a beautiful game, arguably one of their best of the entire season and definitely their best of the playoffs. They never let up on the gas, they dominated, they showed their opponents that they are ready to rumble.

And this is one win, not the series. There’s a reason for the best-of-7 in NHL playoffs. This is one of them.

I will take heart in the evidence. I will take heart in the stamina the Habs showed through over 80 minutes of play.

And I will stay confident that they will win Game 2, and go into Tampa Bay with a split in the series before they play in front of a less-than-friendly crowd.

Enjoy Max Pacioretty’s tying goal:

More from A Winning Habit

Home/Habs News