5 Takeaways From Canadiens’ Brutal Loss in Game 2 vs Lightning

May 3, 2015; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; General view during the first period in game two of the second round of the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports

4. Enter… Emotions.

For the most part, players can be fierce opponents, even arch-enemies on the ice, and go for a beer when they’re not competing. Of course there are those who are never going to get together socially (Milan Lucic, meet Dale Weise? Not even in a light alley!).

With the speed of the game, and 30 teams competing for that One Prize at the end of the season, 700 players interacting on a fairly regular basis are inevitably going to form personal feelings.

Emotions run high. And when you add into the mix a best-of-7 series where players are competing against each other for a minimum 4 games, there are always going to be fiery encounters and from those, personal vendettas.

Combine that with the headspace the Habs were in, already down 1 game lost in a double overtime, with controversy surrounding that winning goal. The results are not good.

It became clear, as the game wore on, that the Habs were letting their emotions get the better of them. Perhaps they were remembering the offside that wasn’t called before Tampa scored the game-winning goal Friday night in the second overtime.

Perhaps they were struggling to keep up with a fast team and a big goalie.

Perhaps Tampa Bay – and I have not admitted this, not till now – truly is in the heads of every Canadiens player.

No matter the triggers, emotions were out of control, and when that happens, discipline is going to go out the window as well.

Even fans at the Bell Centre were letting their emotions get the better of them:

The Habs have to rein in their emotions, from the anger and frustration to the personal rivalries and the glaring 0-7 the Bolts now hold over the Habs in 2014-15. All of it has to be tightly controlled and they have to focus only on the next shift, the next period.

Because time is running out and emotions will be the downfall of any athlete if those emotions only detract from determination.

3. Momentum

The Habs had incredible momentum gained in, and carried over from Game 1. They played a tight, dominant game that just didn’t go their way in the end. They brought that momentum into the second game as well, scoring the first goal, playing beautifully until less than a minute till the end of the first period.

As PK Subban sat in the box for a soft call, Tampa Bay opened their floodgates and that goal seemed to take all the wind out of the Canadiens’ sails.

May 3, 2015; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Montreal Canadiens defenseman Jeff Petry (26) celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning during the first period in game two of the second round of the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports

They emerged for the next two periods utterly depleted. There were some beautiful plays but penalties killed their momentum.

They need to find that place again, for Game 3. Momentum is a powerful drive. Case in point, Tampa Bay used their momentum to score 5 more times on the Habs. Granted, 4 of their goals were power-play goals.

If the Habs can use momentum in the next two games, they are very capable of winning. They’ve scored on Ben Bishop 3 times these playoffs. And while the first game’s goal was a bit of a flub by Bishop, the 2 scored in Game 2 were absolute beauties.

More like that, in Game 3, and they can recoup their momentum.

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