Here’s my three takeaways from Friday’s 1-0 Montreal Canadiens loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
1- Goalie duel
Game 6 turned into a battle of the goaltenders, with the only question being who would blink first. Both had to be difference-makers for their teams, and Andrei Vasilevskiy delivered his best performance of the series, coming up with several key saves on Montreal’s most dangerous shooters.
The future Hall of Famer clearly wanted to atone for the soft game-winning goal he allowed in Game 5 to Alexandre Texier. He made a couple of huge stops early, including a right pad save on Ivan Demidov, who is still searching for his first goal of the series. As the game went on, he only got better, looking much more like the goalie we saw during the regular season.
Jakub Dobes was sharp as well, though he didn’t face the same level of high-quality chances. In fact, one of the best saves of the night might have come from Philip Danault, who cleared a puck off the goal line thanks to great positioning. Dobes’ biggest moment came late in the third period, making a key save on Brayden Point from the slot while killing a penalty.
2- Caufield’s gone cold
Cole Caufield can’t seem to buy a goal right now after putting together the kind of scoring season a whole generation of Canadiens fans haven’t seen.
Goal scorers will tell you they don’t worry when the goals dry up, they worry when the chances disappear. If that’s the case, Caufield has nothing to be concerned about. The looks are still there, and it feels like it’s only a matter of time before one goes in.
He had at least three chances tonight from spots where he’s usually automatic, but a goal post and a couple of strong saves from Vasilevskiy kept him off the board. Great players always find a way to produce, sometimes they just run out of time.
For Caufield, there’s still time to make an impact and do what he does best.
3- A fitting Game 6
This series has been tight, and Game 6 followed that script perfectly. It was one of the best games of the playoffs so far and easily the best of the series, even without much scoring.
The pace was high, the game was physical, and the referees stayed out of the spotlight. Like the first three games, it needed overtime to decide a winner.
This time, it was an unlikely hero, Gage Goncalves, pouncing on a loose puck in front of the net during a scramble to end it.
Games and series like this are why the NHL has the best postseason in sports. It may not have been the result Canadiens fans wanted, but this series absolutely deserves a Game 7.
