The Tampa Bay Lightning forced their Eastern Conference First Round series into a seventh game with a 1-0 overtime win over the Montreal Canadiens in Game 6 at the Bell Center on Friday night.
The Atlantic Division rivals were held scoreless through more than 69 minutes of action before Gage Goncalves hit a loose puck past Jacob Dobbs for the game's only goal. Brandon Hagel crossed a checker at the right point and fed Dominic James in the bottom right circle. James threw the puck on net, where Goncalves got a shot at it.
Dobbs got a slice of the shot, but Goncalves got to the loose puck and put it into the net at 9:03 for the win.
The goals came after each goaltender made game-saving stops in OT. Seconds after Lightning star Nikita Kucherov was called for tripping 5:30 into overtime, Tampa Bay's Andrei Vasilevskiy blocked Game 1 hero Juraj Slafkovsky's one-timer from the right circle. The Lightning killed off the remaining penalties, and Kucherov almost won it by coming out of the box, getting the puck in the Montreal zone and forcing Dobbs to make a spectacular stop to keep the game scoreless.
Vasilevskiy, who allowed a soft goal in Montreal's 3–2 win in Game 5 that proved to be the winner, bounced back with a flawless, 30-save effort. Dobbs finished with 32 saves as the teams played their fourth overtime game and sixth one-goal game in the series that has become a classic.
The series returns to Benchmark International Arena in Tampa for Game 7 on Sunday. But playing at home may not be to Bolt's advantage; The home team has lost four out of six matches in this series.
To say that the scoreless first period was played at a fast pace would be an understatement. With the Lightning in "win or go home" mode and the Canadiens eager to end the series in front of their home fans, both teams were excited. The Canadiens had 26 hits in the opening 20 minutes; The Lightning, not known as a physical team, had 15.
Cole Caufield, Montreal's 51-goal scorer during the regular season, almost opened the scoring less than three minutes into the game; He beat Vasilevskiy but hit the post. That happened when Tampa Bay's Yanni Gourde picked up a foul play from Dobbs and took a shot to the back of the net, but couldn't connect on the wraparound, causing the puck to slip through the crease.
Vasilevskiy faced tougher chances as the period progressed, robbing Jake Evans from close range twice and denying Ivan Demidov from the right circle on a 2-on-1.
The Canadiens got their first power play of the game when Jake Guentzel was called for an unnecessary high-sticking penalty with 11 seconds remaining, but nothing was generated.
The pace was a little less frenetic in the second period, but the result was the same – no goals. This was largely due to some late heroics from Vasilevskiy, who lived up to his status as a Vezina Trophy finalist – especially after Charles-Edouard was called for slashing at 16:54. He denied Caufield again from 20 feet, then robbed Demidov from the right circle after a perfect setup and denied him again on the rebound.
The Canadiens continued to control the game after the power play ended and Vasilevskiy kept the game scoreless for 40 minutes on a last-second effort by Philippe Denault.
Montreal controlled the first five minutes of the third period, but the game changed after Montreal defenseman Caden Guhle was called for slashing Guentzel at 5:11 to break up a solo scoring chance. Tampa Bay did not score but applied a lot of pressure and dominated the game for most of the rest of the period.
The Lightning got a late power-play opportunity when Demidov was called for goaltender interference with 3:17 left after fouling Vasilevsky.
Tampa Bay controlled the puck for almost the entire power play, but couldn't get past Dobbs, who made big saves on Kucherov, Radish and the point, then denied Brandon Hagel's tip-in attempt shortly after the penalty ended.
Tampa Bay finished regulation with a 28–27 edge in shots on goal and an 81–58 differential in attempts.
Key takeaways after the Lightning survive by defeating the Canadiens 1-0 in Game 6
Vasilevsky stepped forward
The Lightning were swept in Game 5, but were even at 2–2 before Vasilevskiy was defeated by a blocked shot 99 out of 100. He more than atoned for it in Game 6, earning the 70th playoff win and eighth shutout of his career.
The “Big Cat” was everywhere, leaving Montreal shooters (and team executives) shaking their heads.
“He was excellent tonight,” D'Astas told Scripps Sports. "Because of them we're going back to Tampa. It was fun to see."
Hegel said having Vasilevskiy in goal allows him and his teammates to play with more freedom.
"You can go out and play your game and not have to worry about what's behind you," he said. "It seemed as if Vasi would never allow another goal."
Goncalves an unlikely hero
On a team with stars like Kucherov, Vasilevskiy and Hegel, it's easy to lose sight of players like Goncalves, who is a bottom-six forward and does a lot of attacking work. He was scoreless in the series before getting an assist in Game 5 and had not scored a goal since March 17.
But he missed the game-winner by tipping defenseman Caden Guhle and refused to leave the game after Dobbs blocked his first-time attempt.
"I talked to him before the game about what he needs to do in this game, be where he needs to be," Cooper said. "It was only fair that such a goal was needed to win. It was a brilliant game by both teams."
win or go home, take 2
The Lightning probably could have flown home even without the plane - such is the feeling of a season-saving overtime win. But as Cooper said, "We haven't won anything yet."
Both teams have had success in Game 7. The Lightning have won seven of 10, including four of five played at home. This is their first Game 7 since the first round in 2022, when they defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 2–1.
Montreal is 15-9 in Game 7s, including a 7-6 mark on the road. The Canadiens' last Game 7 came when they defeated Toronto 3–1 in the second round in 2021. Ironically, Corey Perry scored the game-winning goal – the same Corey Perry who would be trying to help the Lightning end his former team's season.
Hegel said, "These are the moments you live for."
