The Montreal Canadiens did a lot of good things Thursday night against the Tampa Bay Lightning, but a bad break and discipline cost them the game.
In a game where the Montreal Canadiens actually played well, the team found a way to blow it. The opening half of the game started the way fans expected. Tampa Bay looked stronger, faster, and better than the Habs in every way. Their first power play opportunity was a thing of beauty as they were making many passes up and down the umbrella forcing Carey Price to make a couple of great saves.
However, the Habs turned it around as the game continued. They managed to keep up and generate scoring chances of their own. The only downside was the number of penalties they were taking. Tampa continued to gain more and more momentum with every power-play they were given.
Montreal spent a lot of time with the lead after Brendan Gallagher got a lucky bounce on the man advantage. Then, Karl Alzner gets beat by Nikita Kucherov on the icing call, and Steven Stamkos ties the game in the final 12 seconds of the period.
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That was all the Lightning needed as they took over the third after scoring in the opening 50 seconds. Unfortunately, it was Alzner who looked bad on that one again.
Regardless of what happens on Saturday, this road trip is already a failure. With every game that goes by, the Habs fall deeper and deeper into this whole they’ve dug for themselves. The Montreal Canadiens are back to being a bottom five team in the league, and you have to think if whether that’s the best place to be for them.
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