The Tampa Bay Lightning inserted Max Crozier into the lineup on Sunday against the Montreal Canadiens. His huge hit changed the tone of the game, and maybe the series.
Max Crozier said he didn't come into Game 4 of his team's first-round series against the Montreal Canadiens looking to make an enormous impact.
But that was before he saw Juraj Slafkovsky of the Canadiens skating through the neutral zone with the puck on his stick and his head down.
"Yeah, it was pretty easy to line it up," Crozier said.
With the Tampa Bay Lightning down 2-0 at the time and trailing the series 2-1, Crozier lowered the boom on Slafkovsky and changed the complexion of the game.
"If you're watching the game, you know that hit probably had a big thing to do with it," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said.
Will it prove to change the complexion of the series? We'll see because, you know, momentum can be so fleeting in the playoffs. That's why it changes so often.
But there's no disputing a bunch of really good things happened for Tampa after the hit, and there's no disputing they go back home for Game 5 tied 2-2 and riding a high.
Watch the video column up above for more.
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