Only in the NHL can you have a team make back-to-back Final appearances, then be in the same division as its opponent the following season both times. Yet, thanks to our COVID-inspired 2021 realignment, that's exactly the situation the Tampa Bay Lighting will have. The Stars were their temporary division rivals this season, while the Canadiens will rejoin the Atlantic in 2021-22 after spending this season in the all-Canadian North Division.
It was obviously a possibility when the NHL decided to do away with conferences for this season, but it's still beyond weird that two teams normally in the same division are playing for the Cup. Especially when one of those teams had the 18th-best record in the league this season! Yet, this was the format, and Lightning-Canadiens is what we've got.
And, I've gotta admit, seeing Montreal in the Cup Final is cool. They've won the Cup 24 times, by far the most in history, but haven't even been to the Final since they last lifted it in 1993! That was actually the last time any Canadian team won the Cup! Will that streak be extended to 28 years? Or will the Canadiens finally put the "Curse of the Forum" behind them once and for all?
How awesome will it be for the Stanley Cup Final to be played in Montreal again?! The Bell Centre opened in 1996 and has never hosted a Final game. Thank God the Canadian government allowed them to play home games for the Final! Because it would've been a shame if they had to play at a neutral site. And it almost doesn't even matter that it's still very limited capacity. Because no matter how many fans are there, it'll still be a madhouse!
Montreal is a huge underdog entering this series. But they were against Toronto, Winnipeg and Vegas, too, so I don't think that's gonna bother the Canadiens one bit. Plus, they've taken advantage of the one thing that has made a difference in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for years--the hot goalie. And there's no one hotter than Conn Smythe favorite Carey Price right now!
I don't want to give Price all the credit, but there's no way the Canadiens would be in the Cup Final without him. They're 11-2 since going down 3-1 against the Leafs, and, frankly, they were by far the better team in each of their last two series. And, I'm not sure if it's luck or something else, but they're 5-1 in overtime games during that stretch. That's unheard of! But, hey, sometimes it's better to be lucky than good!
Not to be outdone, Tampa Bay's Andrei Vasilevskiy has had a shutout in all three of the Lightning's series-clinching wins this postseason. And, let's not forget, the Lightning haven't lost a playoff series since they were shockingly swept by Columbus in 2019. Now they've got a chance to win their second Cup in 10 months...and keep that ridiculous streak for Champa Bay's pro sports teams alive!
The Lightning's return trip to the Final isn't nearly as unexpected as Montreal's. Even after finishing third in the division, I don't think there was any doubt that Tampa Bay was capable of making another run, which is exactly what they've done. In fact, if possible, I think the Lightning might even be better this season.
Tampa Bay played three very good teams and figured out what to do to beat each of them. Montreal will present a different challenge, though. The Canadiens' defense has been suffocating, and, of course, they have Price. And they'll almost certainly rely on that same tactic against all of Tampa's dynamic scorers--much like they did against the Knights, when they turned Marchessault and Karlsson into non-factors.
There are almost too many scorers on the Lightning for Montreal to take them all out of the game, though. One of Tampa's greatest strengths is its balance. The Lightning's fourth line is just as scary as the big names. So are their top two defensemen--Victor Hedman and Ryan McDonagh. Don't forget about the experience factor, either. These guys won the Stanley Cup less than a year ago!
Although, while it's been a long wait for the Canadiens' franchise, Montreal isn't completely lacking in experience. Tyler Toffoli, Corey Perry and Eric Staal are all veterans who've already had their names engraved on the Cup. So has backup goalie Jake Allen, who was on the 2018-19 Blues. Price and captain Shea Weber, meanwhile, were on Canada's gold-medal-winning team at the 2014 Olympics. So playing for the Cup won't be completely foreign to them.
You also can't discount this crazy momentum the Canadiens are riding. As they've been saying throughout the playoffs, they got healthy at the right time, and this is the result. So maybe this isn't a fluke. As the Maple Leafs, Jets and, especially, Golden Knights learned, underestimate this team at your own risk. Which is a message I think the Lightning have definitely received.
My track record during this year's Stanley Cup Playoffs is not very good. I had Montreal losing each of its three previous series. I've also had a knack for picking the losing team in Mike Ferraro's "Who You Got?" game on Facebook (you pick who's going to score the game-winner for every OT game). But I still compelled to make a pick here. And I've gotta go with the defending champs.
Carey Price has been brilliant all playoffs. I'm not taking that away from him. Montreal wants it to be low-scoring so Price can make the difference. That's easier said than done against the Lightning's offense, though. And Tampa Bay has Vasilevskiy, so even if they are low-scoring games, they feel pretty good about their goalie, too.
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