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Forward Brandon Hagel scored his fifth and sixth goals of the playoffs to give the Tampa Bay Lightning a 3-2 win in Game 4 over the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday at the Bell Centre.
It was the first game of the best-of-seven, first-round playoff series to be decided in regulation.
The Canadiens were up 2-0 late in the second period — the first time either team led by more than one all series — but the Bolts countered with three unanswered goals for the comeback win, including Hagel nabbing the tying and go-ahead goals.
Penalty troubles could’ve sunk either team. In the end, the Lightning went 1-7 with the man-advantage compared to 1-5 for the Habs in an undisciplined battle.
In the second period, Juraj Slafkovsky was rocked by a hit at centre ice from Max Crozier, playing his first game of the postseason. Slafkovsky returned for the third period, but wasn’t a factor. It’s the second major bump he’s taken this series: Hagel knocked him out with a punch in a Game 2 fight.
The first line once again was unable to produce a goal at even-strength, but Cole Caufield finally hit the scoresheet with a power play marker for his first of the postseason.
The Canadiens’ pregame ceremony featured another nod to the past. After Yvan Cournoyer carried the torch in Game 3, it was fellow Hall of Famer Serge Savard’s turn in Game 4.
The game was scoreless until 10:06 of the second period. The cobbled-together fourth line of Kirby Dach alongside Zachary Bolduc and Alexandre Texier starred in Friday’s win, and they broke the deadlock.
Kaiden Guhle hit Bolduc with a stretch pass, and without much of a shot Bolduc managed to tuck the puck under Andrei Vasilevskiy to open scoring. Texier also assisted.
Just over three minutes later, the Canadiens took the first two-goal lead of the series when Nick Suzuki found Cole Caufield in front for the tap-in on the power play.
Momentum seemed to be shifting toward the Habs on home ice, but as has been the case so often in this series, the pendulum quickly swung.
On the same shift as the Slafkovsky hit by Crozier, Mike Matheson took a slashing penalty. Then it was 4-on-4 after a Lightning penalty.
That gave Jake Guentzel enough room to drive the net and receive a pass from J.J. Moser. Before Jakub Dobes could slide across, Guentzel buried his shot to put Tampa Bay on the board with 54 seconds left in the period.
In the opening minute of the third, the Habs hit the penalty box again. With Oliver Kapanen in the sin bin for high-sticking, Hagel scored his first of two. Both came with the forward parked in front of Dobes.
Fast forward to 15:07 of the third, Hagel hit the crease again, and this time redirected a Nikita Kucherov pass to give the Lightning their first lead of the night. The Canadiens would get one more power play with a chance to draw even, but the Lightning held on to their lead.
The playoffs are a time for heroes to emerge. Slafkovsky and Josh Anderson were the stars of Game 1, and Kirby Dach was clutch in Game 3. But for the Lightning, game in and game out, Hagel has been a perpetual thorn in Montreal’s side.
He’s up to six goals in the series, and the Canadiens don’t seem to have an answer for his play in front of Dobes’s net.
Caufield finally scored after coming up empty in the first three games, and the commenters who joined on the Hockey Inside Out YouTube Livestream hope the floodgates will open. Goal scorers are streaky by nature, after all.
But the commenters were also calling for changes to the top two lines to try to spread out the offence and make it harder for Lightning coach Jon Cooper to match up two-way whiz Anthony Cirelli with the Habs’ most talented forwards.
Although Slafkovsky did return after the Crozier hit, had he been unable to go, it would’ve forced Habs coach Martin St. Louis to shuffle his deck. The second line has produced bupkis, with Ivan Demidov most notably seeking his first goal of the playoffs.
Anderson could warrant a promotion, but he took an awkward spill in the second period after getting tangled up with Ryan McDonagh and left for the dressing room before returning.
If last night’s Game Score is any indication, Alex Newhook and Kapanen aren’t the answer.
Here’s what the commenters had to say about the Habs coughing up the first two-goal lead of the series. They were disappointed, but resigned to this series being evenly matched thus far. It feels like the Habs and Bolts might go the distance.
3. A few lapses, but we didn't play badly. Looking forward to the next one.
2. Well, our young guns' lack of experience and composure showed as we gave up 3 unanswered goals.
Bob Taylor1. Another exciting game. Habs didn't play horrible, just undisciplined penalties vs. a skilled team. The series is tied, a new one begins.
Kelly MorganEditor’s Picks
The post About Last Night: Canadiens need an answer to Lightning’s Brandon Hagel after Game 4 loss appeared first on Montreal Gazette.
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