The Montreal Canadiens lost a heartbreaker on Friday night as the two teams were scoreless through three periods before the Lightning scored the game-winner in overtime. The series is now tied at three games apiece and heading back to Tampa.
Unfortunately, the Canadiens' captain might have given the Lightning a little extra motivation with some comments after Game 6.
After the game, Suzuki was asked what his message as a captain was to his team. "I mean just stay positive. I think we're the better team for pretty much most of that game and just didn't score and [Andrei] Vasilevskiy kind of won them that game."
On the one hand, this quote can be viewed as a captain trying to keep the confidence of his team up, but at the same time, it seems dismissive of what the Tampa Bay Lightning have been able to do. In a game that was scoreless through three periods, shots were 33-30 in favor of Tampa Bay, and faceoffs were 51.1% - 48.9% in favor of Montreal; it would be tough to find a more even matchup between two teams.
Pressure is now on Nick Suzuki and Montreal Canadiens to deliver in Game 7
The comments by Nick Suzuki now put the pressure on the Canadiens going into Game 7, and particularly their top line. In this series with the Lightning, the trio of Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki and Juraj Slafkovsky has combined for only one point in 5v5 situations.
For a group of players that includes a 50+ goal scorer (Caufield), a 100+ point producer (Suzuki), and a 70+ point producer (Slafkovsky) to only have one point, it is pretty remarkable that the Canadiens have even been able to push this series to seven games. They just have not gotten enough from their top forwards, and if they hope to advance in the playoffs, they need to take over Game 7.
However, the Lightning are a veteran group and don't necessarily need extra motivation, but Suzuki just gave it to them. The fact that he said Vasilevskiy essentially stole that game doesn't take into account what the skaters were able to do when considering the stats were almost split down the middle.
It has been an incredible series between these two teams, and it always felt like it was destined to go seven games, as every game was decided by one goal, and four of them went to overtime. The margin of error is going to be so small, but this is the next big test for a Montreal Canadiens team that is trying to take that next step.
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