There are a few reasons why the Tampa Bay Lightning are currently on the verge of elimination, but the main one is probably not the one you would expect.
Before the Montreal Canadiens’ series against the Tampa Bay Lightning, everyone was expecting their top line to cause trouble for Jon Cooper’s men. However, five games in, the Floridians have managed to tame the beast, at least at even strength. What they haven’t found a way to do yet, though, is find an answer to Martin’s St-Louis’ new line formed of Alexandre Texier, Kirby Dach, and Zachary Bolduc.
In 22 minutes and 19 seconds on ice at five-on-five, the line has been dominant. They’ve had three inner-slot shots, while the Bolts have had only one; their expected goals stand at 63.4%, while Tampa’s at 36.6%, and they’ve scored six goals while allowing none.
In Game 5, when St-Louis elected to make a slew of changes to his lines, it was the only one that wasn’t affected. These three players, deployed as a fourth line with limited ice time, are giving Cooper headaches. Why? Simply because the Bolts do not have the same depth as the Canadiens have.
Furthermore, they are playing a tough game, with both Dach and Bolduc throwing three hits in Game 5. At the same time, Texier has demonstrated a knack for being in the right place at the right time with plenty of space, something that has been hard to come by for the Canadiens’ usual top producers. In two of the last three games, that line has scored the Habs’ first goal, giving the team momentum. It wasn’t always a pretty goal, but whichever way the puck gets in the net doesn’t matter; the goal still counts. They didn’t get the first goal in Game 5, but they topped that, scoring the goal that would stand as the game-winner just over a minute into the third period.
When St-Louis elected to put them together, he found something most suspected the Canadiens didn’t have: offensive depth. With their backs to the wall, will Cooper try to adapt and make life tougher for those three players? He could, but then life might get much easier for the likes of Caufield, Suzuki, and Slafkovsky, who are working their hardest to find an opportunity. Can Cooper gamble and give them one? That seems highly unlikely.
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