The Montreal Canadiens technically entered this series as the underdog but the games between these two teams have been fairly even over the course of the regular season. That was the case once again in Game 1 of this series as the Canadiens and Lightning went to overtime where the Canadiens were able to win in it.
The Canadiens opened the scoring with Josh Anderson getting one past Andrei Vasilevskiy and Montreal had a 1-0 at the first intermission. In the second, the Lightning responded with two goals in about 30 seconds to take back the lead. However, Juraj Slafkovsky had his first power-play goal of the night to tie it up before the second intermission.
Neither team was really able to get much separation in the third as they would each score a power play goal. It would require extra time with the game still tied at three at the end of the third period.
The Canadiens entered overtime with a power play that carried over from the end of the third and that was all they needed with Slafkovsky completing the hat trick to give Montreal a 4-3 win and a 1-0 lead in the series. These are some of the takeaways from Game 1 on Sunday night.
Alexandre Carrier returns from injury and paired with Mike Matheson
One of the questions entering this series was how the Montreal Canadiens would manage the absence of Noah Dobson. Fortunately for them, they were getting a defenseman back in Alexandre Carrier, who had been out with an injury since March 29th.
Carrier finished the game with 18:36 minutes of ice time and was a big part of the penalty kill with over four minutes of short-handed ice time. He had three hits, one blocked shot, and even added an assist on the goal by Josh Anderson.
Carrier isn't able to replace what Dobson brought to this team alone, and it was a team effort in this game as they limited the Lightning to only one 5v5 goal in this game. The Canadiens' ability to limit their chances in 5v5 situations was a big reason they were able to get the road win.
Both teams special team units made an impact but Montreal was a little better
The Montreal Canadiens had one of the better power-play units this season, but were entering the playoffs in a bit of a slump, with only four power-play goals in their past 31 opportunities. It was expected to be a challenge to get back on track as the Lightning finished Top 3 in penalty-kill percentage in the regular season.
However, it didn't matter for the Canadiens as they would convert three of their five power-play opportunities in this game, with Juraj Slafkovsky scoring all three goals for the Canadiens and completing the hat trick.
The Lightning were able to make some plays when they had the man advantage and scored two power-play goals of their own on their five power-play opportunities, although some of the penalties against Montreal seemed questionable.
In a series where the two teams are seemingly so evenly matched, special teams could be the deciding factor of which team advances.
Josh Anderson scoring is a great sign for the Montreal Canadiens
There probably wasn't anyone who could predict that Josh Anderson would score the first goal of the playoffs for the Montreal Canadiens, but that was exactly the case. In fact, he almost had the first two goals but the second one was waived off after review for high-sticking.
Anderson would score his first playoff goal since July 5th, 2021 when he had two goals against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Stanley Cup Final.
The goal by Anderson was a good sign for the Montreal Canadiens as they are going to need scoring from their depth. While they have a great top line of Slafkovsky, Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield, these three can't handle the scoring by themselves.
If they can continue to get goals from players like Anderson, it will be a big boost to their chances of moving onto the next round.
Jakub Dobes showed the moment isn't too big for the rookie goalie early in this game
This was the first playoff game for a couple of Montreal Canadiens, including Ivan Demidov and goalie Jakub Dobes. The pressure was certainly on the Canadiens' goaltender, as he is a player who can almost single-handedly take over a series or cost a team the chance to advance.
However, Dobes looked great early, and there was one play in particular that showed how confident he is coming into this series. It was in the first five minutes of the game, as Erik Cernak had a wide-open shot from the slot that Dobes not only stopped but also came out well outside his crease to make the save.Â
Dobes finished the game stopping 20 of 23 shots and played a big role in the Canadiens securing the series lead by winning the first game. The two teams will meet again on Tuesday night in Tampa Bay for the second game of the opening series.
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