The Tampa Bay Lightning are the more experienced team by far in their first-round series against the Montreal Canadiens.
But the Habs are learning quickly as the series carries on, and are now one win away from advancing.
The Lightning, who are playing in their ninth consecutive Stanley Cup Playoffs and took home back-to-back titles in 2020 and 2021, had a combined 1,437 games of playoff experience on their roster entering this series. Canadiens players entered the series with just 435 combined games of playoff experience.
The Canadiens are led by the young core of Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky, and are getting huge performances from rookie goaltender Jakub Dobes. But in a 3-2 victory over the Lightning in Game 5, it was a veteran pillar that helped push Montreal ahead.
Brendan Gallagher, the 33-year-old forward who was a healthy scratch in each of the first four games of the series, got the start in Game 5 and opened the scoring in the first period.
“Just his presence, his energy, you know what he’s going to bring on the ice every time he puts on that sweater,” Montreal forward Josh Anderson said of Gallagher. “It was exciting to see him get a goal on the first shift and give our team a boost.”
Gallagher is one of six Canadiens players who participated in the 2021 Stanley Cup Final, when they lost in five games to the Lightning. The loss continues to motivate Gallagher, especially in this series. “I remember what it was like leaving the rink [after losing Game 5], and it’s a feeling that’s going to stick with me as long as I can remember,” Gallagher said after the game.
“[Gallagher] just brings stability, honestly,” said Jake Evans, who was also with the Canadiens for that Stanley Cup Final run in 2021. “He’s not going to blow you away with anything, but he’s just such a steady player and brings that veteran presence that when you’re in games like this and you have the lead against a really good team, you’re really excited to have him on the ice for that.”
The Canadiens let a 2-0 lead - the only multi-goal lead of the entire series to this point - slip away in a 3-2 loss in Game 4 that evened the series. As the team continues to grow, that moment was firmly in the mind of Dobes, who is learning about as quickly as possible in his second playoff run, after making two starts fo the injured Samuel Montembeault in the first round last season.
“I feel like the last game, we maybe panicked a little bit, and we were kind of surprised with what was happening,” said Dobes, who made 38 saves in Game 5. “Today, we were just a better team. I feel like every playoff game, as a team, we get better. We gained experience of the feeling, how it feels. I feel like today everyone did a good job so it doesn’t happen, what happened last game.”
Though Gallagher only finished with just under seven minutes of ice time, he left a profound effect on his teammates in the victory. “He’s awesome,” Dobes said. “You just want to be like him, you want to work as hard, you want to play with such a passion. I feel like he’s born for this type of hockey.”
“That’s Brendan Gallagher Hockey 101 right there,” said forward Kirby Dach. “He played a heck of a game for us.”
Now the Canadiens get a chance to close the series out and book a spot in the second round on home ice in Game 6 on Friday. Habs head coach Martin St. Louis is learning as he goes as well, coaching in his 10th career playoff game against a team with extensive playoff experience.
“It’s such a great opportunity to go against the team who probably set the standard the last 10 years,” St. Louis said in a media availability on Thursday morning. “We haven’t done anything yet but it’s a challenge, it’s still a challenge, it’s going to be a challenge.
“This is a veteran, talented group that’s not going to go away easy, wasn’t going to give you anything for free. The ups and downs of it is part of it, but the learning is what’s most important. Every game we learn, we learned stuff last night and you try to carry that into the next game, stick to the process, nothing guaranteed - it’s so cliched, but it’s all about raising the percentages on your side.”
