The Montreal Canadiens have a golden opportunity to accomplish something they haven't done since 2021, and that is to advance past the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. After an exciting 3-2 victory in Game 5, the Canadiens are back home on Friday night and with a win can clinch the series.
However, just like the five games preceding Game 6, this game is likely to be very close, and the margin of error will be very small. The Canadiens have gotten big performances from top to bottom on their roster and will need that again on Friday night. These are four players in particular that fans should pay attention to as they could be the deciding factor in this game.
Cole Caufield
There is no question that this has been a lackluster series for Cole Caufield, who was coming off a regular season with 51 goals. He has not been able to find that same scoring touch in this series, with only one goal, the same total as Brendan Gallagher, who has played less than seven minutes in this series.
One of the notable differences in this series has been the lack of shots Caufield has taken, as he has only seven shots on goal and 13 total shots. This is well below his season average when he had 3.18 shots on goal per game and 5.7 total shots per game.
There is no question that the Tampa Bay Lightning came into this series with their primary focus being to shut down Caufield. To this point, they have done a great job, but Caufield is too good to be shut out for this long, and this could finally be the breakout game in the playoffs for the Canadiens' top forward.
Jakub Dobes
Jakub Dobes finished the regular season as good as any goalie in the NHL and has carried over that production into these playoffs. There is a strong case to be made that he has even outplayed his counterpart on the Lightning in Andrei Vasilevskiy.
Through five games, Dobes has a goals against average of 2.49 and a save percentage of .903, and allowed only eight goals in 5v5 situations.
The Lightning are entering this game desperate for a win because they need it to extend their season. It is one that Tampa Bay is going to want to start fast and put pressure on the Canadiens. If Dobes is able to hold off the Lightning early in this game, it is going to give Montreal a great chance to come away with the win.
Zachary Bolduc
One player who has been surprisingly good this series has been forward Zachary Bolduc, who after 30 points in 78 regular-season games, has now had four in the past three games. The move by Martin St. Louis to put Bolduc on a line with Kirby Dach and Alexandre Texier has been a great move and this line has been their best in this series.
While the offensive production has increased from the regular season, one thing that has remained constant is the physicality that Bolduc brings when on the ice. After being second on the team in hits during the regular season, he has had 12 hits in this series, with six in just the past two games, and is tied for fifth on the team.
Arber Xhekaj-Jayden Struble
One of the big questions for the Canadiens entering this series was how the third pair on defense would hold up, especially with Noah Dobson out for the first part of this series. The Canadiens went with the pairing of Arber Xhekaj and Jayden Struble, which has been excellent in limited minutes.
Over the five games, these two have been on the ice for just over 40 minutes, and the Canadiens hold a 4-0 goals advantage and 22-8 scoring chances advantage, according to Natural Stat Trick.
The good news for the Canadiens is that Dobson looks close to returning, but in the mean time should feel confident in this pair in how they have been used in this series.
The Canadiens are facing a pivotal game, and while there would be a Game 7, this feels like a must-win because Montreal would not want to go back to Tampa Bay for that final game. If these five players can step up, they have a great chance at ending the series tonight in Game 6.
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