The Montreal Canadiens will take on the Tampa Bay Lightning in Florida on Wednesday night in what is a must-win game.
The Montreal Canadiens and the Tampa Bay Lightning will face off on Wednesday night for the fifth time in their first-round series, and with the finish line in sight, the stakes will be higher than ever. No team has managed to win two games in a row so far, but the Canadiens would like to change that and finish this series in six games at home on Friday. Having to go back to Tampa for a Game 7 is not something they want to do.
Jon Cooper’s team has a 19-5 record (.559 winning percentage) when it comes to game 5, and when it’s played at home, they are 12-6 (.667 winning percentage). When a series is tied 2-2, they are 8-6 for a .571 winning percentage, and that increases to .714 when the game is played at home, with a 5-2 record.
Meanwhile, historically, the Canadiens have a 56-41 record in Game 5s, for a .577 winning percentage. On the road, that percentage dips to just .432 with a 16-21 record. When a series is tied 2-2, the Habs have a 26-19 record (.578 winning percentage), but they are 11-10 on the road with a .524 success rate.
In the two games played in Tampa Bay since the start of the series, both teams have scored six goals; Montreal was assessed 39 penalty minutes, while Tampa received 41 penalty minutes. Chances are we’ll be treated to yet another tight affair.
Judging by what we saw at practice on Tuesday morning, Martin St-Louis appears unlikely to make any changes to his lineup. Josh Anderson, Juraj Slafkovsky and Mike Matheson missed practice and were replaced by Joe Veleno, Brendan Gallagher and Adam Engstrom in their respective spots, but the coach confirmed that the regulars would be available to play Game 5 on Wednesday night.
Not scratching anyone is one thing, but will St-Louis keep his lines as they are? So far, his top six have been unable to score at even strength, and with Cooper having the last change at home, the experienced bench boss won’t even have to break a sweat to keep his desired matchups. While the Canadiens’ pilot has kept repeating that his players would find a way, time is starting to run out, and it may very well be time to make some changes, even if it’s just to throw Cooper a curveball that will have him scratching his head on which matchups to choose.
Montreal would give itself a much better chance to win the series if it were able to go and steal another win in enemy territory than if it came back home on the brink of elimination. The clock is ticking on St-Louis’ time to make adjustments while it’s still useful to do so…
The game is set for 7:00 PM, and you can catch it on The Spot, ESPN2, SN, TVAS, and CBC. Jean Hebert and Furman South are set to officiate, while Scott Cherrey and Killian McNamara will be the linemen.
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