The Montreal Canadiens will take on a familiar foe when the Stanley Cup Playoffs start this weekend, as they will travel to Tampa to take on the Lightning in the first round.
Montreal, fresh off a tear-it-to-the-ground rebuild that saw the franchise pick in the top five of the NHL Draft in three consecutive seasons, will try to exorcise their playoff demons against the club that kicked off the rebuild, in a rematch of the 2021 Stanley Cup Final.
“This is an incredibly symbolic matchup for the Canadiens. The team that they faced in the 2021 Stanley Cup Final, the Tampa Bay Lightning. The loss in that series kicked off this rebuild,” said The Athletic’s Arpon Basu on Tuesday night. “Throughout this rebuild they wanted to be like the Tampa Bay Lightning and now here they are, facing them in the first round as a sign that the rebuild is starting to end.”
The Lightning beat the Canadiens in a quick five-game series in 2021, in what was the final NHL season for captain Shea Weber and the final playoff run for franchise goaltender Carey Price, who would only play five more games before effectively retiring due to chronic knee injuries.
Now, the Canadiens are back in the playoffs for the second-straight year, this time looking to advance past the first round and take another step as they emerge from their rebuild.
“[This is] the type of challenge that brings you to the next level. Whenever you’re a young team and you’re trying to win your first playoff series, that usually takes you to the next level,” head coach Martin St. Louis said on Tuesday night. “We’re going to have to do it against a very good and experienced Tampa team. What a great opportunity, to see how far that can propel us if we can get through it.”
The Canadiens and Lightning split the season series in 2025-26, winning two games apiece, though one of the Lightning victories came in a shootout, giving Montreal a 2-1-1 record against their Atlantic Division rivals this season.
| Montreal Canadiens | Tampa Bay Lightning | |
|---|---|---|
| 48-24-10 | Record | 50-25-6 |
| 106 | Points | 106 |
| 3.40 | Goals For per game | 3.51 |
| 3.06 | Goals Against per game | 2.78 |
| 23.1 | Power Play percentage | 21.0 |
| 78.2 | Penalty Kill Percentage | 82.7 |
The Habs won the final two games between the teams this season in regulation, outscoring the Lightning 6-2. Tampa Bay won the first two matchup this season, including a 6-1 victory in Montreal in December. The most recent game between the two had a playoff atmosphere that featured 126 penalty minutes, two fighting majors, and four game misconducts.
The Lightning will have home-ice advantage at Benchmark International Arena for the first-round clash, where they held a 26-10-4 record this season. The Canadiens were one of the best road teams in the NHL this season, holding a 24-9-8 record away from the Bell Centre. Only the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Colorado Avalanche had a better points percentage on the road.
“We know what to expect, we know they’re a good team. We’ve been good on the road. We’ve got to be confident in that, going into Tampa,” said Canadiens forward Alex Newhook, who won a Stanley Cup with the Avalanche in 2022. “On the road we have a simple-game mentality. We pick our spots and play a hard defensive game. It’s going to be a hard series. That has to be ingrained in us from the start.”
The Canadiens are the second-youngest team in the NHL but still boast plenty of playoff experience, including six players from the 2021 Cup Final: captain Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Brendan Gallagher, Jake Evans, Phillip Danault and Josh Anderson.
Suzuki, who succeeded Weber as captain following the 2021 loss, says the team has made big strides this season in becoming one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference.
“We’ve grown a ton individually and as a group just learning to win in this league and what it takes to win each game,” Suzuki said following Tuesday’s loss to the Philadelphia Flyers. “It’s tough, teams are really good, and I think as players, and as a team, we’ve gotten so much better. Our team game is really tough to play against.”
The Lightning are making their ninth-straight playoff appearance but are looking for their first series win since beating the New York Rangers in the 2022 Eastern Conference Final.
The Canadiens and Lightning have met in the playoffs four times, with Tampa Bay holding a 3-1 advantage.
