The Montreal Canadiens hold a 1-0 lead over the Tampa Bay Lightning after the first period in their winner-take-all Game 7 on Sunday.
The winner of this game will take on the Buffalo Sabres in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs beginning on Wednesday.
Montreal opened the scoring late in the first period when Nick Suzuki’s shot slipped past Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy to give the Canadiens a 1-0 lead.
Suzuki’s goal was his first of the series and sixth point after registering 29 goals and 101 points in 82 games during the regular season.
The Lightning outshot the Canadiens 9-4 in the first period with neither team having an opportunity on the man advantage.
This has been a tightly contested first-round series with every game settled by only a goal and four of the first six games ending in overtime. The Lightning forced Game 7 on Friday after recording a narrow 1-0 victory in overtime at the Bell Centre in Game 6.
Montreal made the playoffs for the second straight campaign and are looking for their first series victory since they made a Stanley Cup Final appearance in 2021.
Tampa Bay has made 12 playoff appearance in the last 13 seasons but have failed to get past the first round since they lost to the Colorado Avalanche in the Stanley Cup Final in 2022.
